With backgrounds as diverse as the Fortune 500 to the Marines,
these innovators discuss how they honed their skills at Cox and whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ahead

Are You an
Entrepreneurial
Thinker?

The Caruth Institute
for Entrepreneurship
A Pioneer in
Entrepreneurial Education

The Life of An
Endowment

A Gift that Keeps On Giving

We’re one of the only business schools in the nation whose full-time, Executive and
Professional MBA programs all rank in the top 20 according to leading business publications
such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal.
There’s no better place to start your journey than the Cox School of Business.
Information Sessions:
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

SMU will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability or veteran status.
SMU’s commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

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expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect official
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class notes Are welcome.

www.cox.smu.edu

Features

21

Four on the Move

Cox taught these entrepreneurs
invaluable lessons; now, others are learning
from these leaders.
By Dave Moore

25

Are You an
Entrepreneurial
Thinker?

Jerry White and Scott Walker share five
traits of successful business starters.
By Mark Stuertz

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from the dean
program news
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in the news
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1

coxFrom the Dean

T

from Dr. Lyle that makes it possible.

This fall, 1,482 freshmen enrolled

at SMU, the largest incoming class

You will meet some of the nation’s

in University history. As our stellar

top entrepreneurs, including Cox

reputation continues to grow, so does

Executive Board member Scott Walker,

the geographic diversity of the Cox

a self-described “serial entrepreneur.”

student body. Two-thirds of all pre-

Walker and Jerry White, director of the

business majors hail from outside

Caruth Institute, share their experience

Texas. Furthermore, the Cox BBA

and insight on what it takes to be an

Scholars program remains one of the

entrepreneurial thinker.

most competitive in the nation, with an

Along with Walker, we feature the

The George W. Bush Presidential

success stories of entrepreneurial Cox

Library is scheduled to break ground

graduates Albert C. Black, Jr., founder

on November 15. Cox Professor

and CEO of On-Target Supplies &

programs is on the rise as well. For

Maria Minniti, Bobby B. Lyle Chair

Logistics; Lisbeth McNabb, founder and

the first time ever, we have more than

in Entrepreneurship, is a worldwide

president of W2Wlink Communications;

1,000 graduate students enrolled in our

expert on gender and minority

Angela Dominguez, president of

masters programs this fall. This year’s

entrepreneurship. Her work directly

Renaissance Contractors Partnership;

full-time MBA program is the largest

ties into the Bush Institute’s outreach

and Andy Nguyen, MSE student and a

class in history, with 154 students,

to female entrepreneurs and women

U.S. Marine.

and enrollment remains strong for

in the Middle East. The Cox School is

our highly-ranked Professional MBA

partnering with the Institute on issues

staff, students and alumni, and the

and Executive MBA programs. The

including energy independence, global

generosity of our donors, SMU and the

Master of Science in Accounting (MSA)

markets and freedom and leadership

Cox School continue to gain prominence

program experienced a 60 percent

issues in the Texas public school system.

among the best universities and business

average SAT score of 1410 for the most
recent incoming class.
The demand for Cox graduate

Wen-Shin Wang received a $2,500
Excellence in Education Awards
scholarship presented by the Greater
Dallas Asian American Chamber
of Commerce. This scholarship is
presented to Asian-American students
who have demonstrated academic
achievement, excellence in leadership
and service to the Asian community.
A triple major in marketing, electrical
engineering and mathematics, Wang is
scheduled to graduate in May 2011.

The SMU Cox National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) student team
took first place at the national 2010 KPMG Case Competition in Houston this
spring. Comprised of three Cox undergraduate students and two incoming MSA
students, the team competed against nine schools and was recognized at the banquet
held during the NABA National Convention.

Cox Hosts
Uplift Academy
for Fifth Year
For the fifth year, Cox hosted ninth-grade
students from Uplift Academy for their high
school orientation. Staff members from Cox
BBA Admissions planned the orientation
that included speakers, a campus tour and
creative presentations. This year’s theme
was “Coca-Cola: Using the Soda Industry
To Understand Academic College Majors.”
Various schools from SMU participated in
the presentations, sharing the value of higher
education with the youth in this program.

3

coxprogram News

Undergraduate Programs

New Entrepreneurship Class
Created for BBA Students

BBA Marketing Majors Kick
Off Internship Program

A new class focusing on entrepreneurial opportunities
launched this fall. The course, led by Maria Minniti,
professor and Bobby B. Lyle Chair in Entrepreneurship,
teaches BBA students to recognize and evaluate
entrepreneurial opportunities in a variety of settings.
Structured as a seminar, the course requires active student
participation through guest speaker presentations, case
preparation and class discussion.

Cox is now one of the few schools in the country to
require a marketing internship of all BBA marketing
majors. The internship involves a classroom component
and a minimum of 100 work hours in the marketing
industry, allowing students to gain real-world experience
and boost their credentials. This summer, the first
group of Cox marketing majors successfully completed
internships at Sewell Automotive, Town of Taos and other
organizations.

Graduate Programs

Michael Segrest of Silver Creek Ventures; First Place winners John Sullivan,
Will Thomas, Chris Garrick; and John Adler of Silver Creek Ventures

EMBA Business Plan
Showcases Budding
Entrepreneurs
Each year Executive MBA (EMBA) students
participate in an entrepreneurship course in which
they are required to create a business plan. This
year, four teams were selected for the annual EMBA
Business Plan Competition. Silver Creek Ventures,
a venture capital firm, judged the competition.
Prize money totaling $10,000 was awarded to the
winning presentations. In April, Chris Garrick, John
Sullivan and Will Thomas won $5,000 for TruMed
Diagnostics. David Goodman and Gilbert Molinar
won $2,500 for Golf Edge. Gilbert Hernandez and
Byron Lipper won $1,500 for Total Performance Asset
Management, and Annette Mosley, Benjamin Kuntz
and Brian Williams won $1,000 for Optimal EDU.

Curriculum Changes and New Concentrations Begin This Fall
Starting this fall, Cox students may select two new concentrations: tax for MSA students and real estate for MBA students. In
addition, the marketing concentration requirement for MBA students has been revised to consist of a new core course curriculum,
three foundation courses and at least two (of four) functional courses.

Cox Executive MBA
Students Learn the Meaning
of Teamwork
SMU Cox Class of 2011 Executive MBA students had
a chance to spend a day at Stony Ranch Ropes Challenge
Course in order to help them better understand the benefits of
teamwork in study groups.

Ray Hunt, Scott Rolseth, Miguel Molina and Adi Garg

Ray Hunt Speaks to Executive
MBA Class of 2011
Ray Hunt was a guest speaker for the EMBA Class of 2011. He
shared the five key factors that make a successful organization,
and commented on current topics including the BP oil spill.
www.cox.smu.edu

5

coxprogram News

Graduate Programs

MBA Students Presented with
Best Small Business of the Year
The Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of
Commerce Annual Awards Gala recently recognized notable
accomplishments by Asian-American entrepreneurs and
business leaders. SMU Cox MBA student Yuke Wang received
the recognition of Best Small Business of the Year for his
company, Dallas Best Mortgage. Wang is a joint JD/MBA
student and is scheduled to graduate in 2011.

MBA Students Selected
as the First Marketing
Scholars at SMU Cox
Five MBA marketing students were recently
selected as the first Marketing Scholars in the
MBA Marketing Scholars program. As part of the
program, Andrew Boyett, Stephanie Chan, K.C.
Choudhary, Rob Cohen and Kevin Zentmeyer
received prestigious scholarships. Selection for
the MBA Marketing Scholars program is based on
academic achievement, work experience, marketing
knowledge and communication skills, as revealed
through student applications and a panel interview.

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, Linda Kao,
Lynne and Yuke Wang

Executive Education

Executive Education
Hosts Ninth Annual
Summer Business
Institute
The Summer Business Institute is an innovative,
month-long certificate program designed to give
nonbusiness majors instruction in accounting,
marketing, business and other topics. This year,
the program was attended by SMU nonbusiness
majors as well as students from schools across
the nation. The students attended field trips
to places such as the Dallas Cowboys Stadium
and The Richards Group. In addition, Mark
Nerenhausen, former president and CEO of the
AT&T Performing Arts Center, spoke about the art
of business. The 10th Annual Summer Business
Institute will be held May 31 through June 24, 2011.

Executives
Learn the Art
of Negotiation
through Cox
Executive
Education

SMU Cox Executive Education
welcomed participants to the newest
program offering, “Exceptional
Business Strategy,” during the spring
term. Jim Kindley, David T. Lei and
Simon Mak taught this two-day
course, which included the core
principles and processes that drive
effective planning and powerful
skills that can be implemented
immediately.

Executives from the insurance,
energy, apparel, pharmaceutical,
nonprofit industries and
government agencies gathered to
learn the art of negotiation with
the gain-gain approach presented
by Professor Robin L. Pinkley.
This powerful two-day course
was designed to enhance the
understanding and skills to become
a more effective negotiator.

Executive
Education Offers
Essentials of
Finance &
Accounting for
Non-Financial
Managers
The program “Essentials of
Finance & Accounting” was offered
this spring by Executive Education.
Designed to give participants a basic
understanding of the accounting and
finance concepts needed to assess
the performance of their companies,
this three-day program included
participants from various industries
around the country.

Centers of Excellence

SMU Cox MBAs Become Servant Leaders at the
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
Through a unique partnership between the Cox Business Leadership Center and the
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC), 40 Cox graduate students volunteered
to conduct evaluations and deliver recommendations on nine consulting projects consisting
of topics such as special events, security systems and marketing plans. Students divided into
teams to analyze challenges and present suggested solutions to TSRHC management during
this three-week program. For more information regarding the BLC TSRHC Consulting
Program, please visit http://tiny.cc/CoxScottishRite.

Southwest Venture Forum Showcases Investment Panels
The SMU Cox Southwest Venture Forum’s May program, “Angel Investing Update,” was delivered to a standing-room
only audience at the Park City Club. The September program featured an expert panel on “Investing in Entrepreneurs: How
Wealthy Families Do It.” More information can be found at www. swvf.org.

This spring, Dean Al Niemi hosted the annual Edwin L. Cox BBA
Leadership Institute (BLI) and Business Leadership Center (BLC)
Awards Luncheon to honor and recognize Cox students and BLC
instructors who earned awards during the 2009–2010 academic
year. Ed Cox was an honored guest at this event.
Thirteen Cox graduate students were recognized as Cox
Distinguished Business Leaders, an honor achieved by
participating in 20 or more BLC seminars.
Thirty-three Cox graduate students were celebrated for their
accomplishment of becoming Dean’s Circle members. The Dean’s

Ed Cox,
Dean Niemi
and Dean’s
Circle Award
winners.

Circle is an elite group of students who have spent more than 90
contact hours in the BLC by accumulating 30 or more BLC credits
through seminars and special programs.
Twenty-eight BLC corporate instructors were also honored
for earning one or more Teaching Excellence Awards. In order to
receive a Teaching Excellence Award, an instructor must receive
a 4.8 or higher out of a 5.0 evaluation from the students. For more
information on BLC awards and recognition, please visit http://
tiny.cc/CoxBLCAwards.

Cox MBA Students Conquer The
Leadership Challenge Program
Through a special program offered by the Business Leadership Center,
20 Cox graduate students honed their leadership skills at a two-day
retreat known as The Leadership Challenge program based on the
award-winning book, The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry
Posner. Craig Haptonstall, president & CEO of Leadership Mechanics,
led the students through several exercises to help them identify their
own leadership strengths and areas of improvement. Each program
participant was required to reach Cox Leadership Forum status, which
is attained by attending at least 10 BLC seminars, and to complete the
Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) 360 Assessment. By completing
this program, students learned how to search for opportunities to take
the risks needed for growth, inspire others to share a common vision,
and build collaboration, teamwork and trust. For more information
about The Leadership Challenge program, please go to http://tiny.cc/
CoxLeadershipChallenge.

8

Fall 2010

coxprogram news

Centers of Excellence

Caruth Institute for
Entrepreneurship
Co-Sponsors
Growth Capital
Conference
The Caruth Institute for
Entrepreneurship co-sponsored
the June 2010 Metroplex Growth
Capital Conference, hosted by the
North Dallas Chamber of Commerce.
Carl Sewell, chairman of Sewell
Automotive Companies, served as the
keynote speaker.

In July, the Maguire Energy Institute hosted a press conference featuring
Texas Governor Rick Perry at the SMU Cox campus. During the conference,
Perry announced the formation of the Gulf Project, a coalition of energy and
environmental scientists, policy experts, academic researchers, private sector
research scientists and state officials. The Gulf Project will work to ensure
Texas never endures the environmental and economic disaster that occurred in
the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.

Business Information
Center Presents at Special
Libraries’ Association
Annual Conference
The Cox Business Information Center (BIC)
Director, Sandy Miller, and Outreach Librarian, Karen
Leeseberg, presented a poster session at the Special
Libraries Association (SLA) 2010 Annual Conference
in New Orleans. The SLA Business & Finance
Division selected the BIC’s poster titled “A Step-byStep Process for Information Literacy Integration
in a Business School Curriculum.” The presentation
highlighted the successful efforts of the BIC librarians
to teach Cox BBA students library and research skills
preparing them to achieve excellence in classroom
research projects, in-depth preparation for successful
job interviews and familiarity with leading databases.
www.cox.smu.edu

Sandy Miller and Karen Leeseberg at the Special Libraries Association
Annual Conference.

9

coxprogram News

Centers of Excellence

“Starting A
Business”
Certificate
Program
Celebrates
Continued
Success
The “Starting A Business”
certificate course concluded
another successful term with an
inspirational talk by Dallas 100™
Entrepreneur Awards multiyear winner, Nina Vaca. Vaca is
founder and CEO of Pinnacle
Technical Resources, the largest
diversity-owned IT staffing firm
nationwide.

Global Connections

SMU-in-China: Business Program
Launched this July for Cox BBAs
This July, the Cox Global Programs office launched the first SMUin-China: Business program at The Chinese University of Hong
Kong (CUHK). SMU-in-China: Business is a four-week residential
program that introduces SMU Cox undergraduate students to China’s
contemporary economic, political and business environment. The
program focuses on business management in the context of Chinese
culture and values, providing students with a new perspective to
understand cross-cultural management and the impact of China’s
emerging economy. The program is comprised of classroom lectures
with leading faculty members from CUHK’s Asia-Pacific Institute of
Business and company visits to top corporations in Hong Kong and
mainland China.
Aside from having ample time to explore Hong Kong’s most valued
sights like Victoria Peak, Lantau Island, Happy Valley’s race course
and the famous Symphony of Lights, the students also traveled to the
mainland Chinese province of Guangzhou to visit local companies
and network with students from the local university. Many students
also extended their stay in China to visit Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and
Shenzhen.
Next year the SMU-in-China: Business program also will include

10

a cultural component. China’s rich history and culture will offer
an interdisciplinary curriculum allowing students to immerse
themselves in the people, culture and history of China. It also will
include a four-day study tour to Xi’an, an ancient capital city in
western mainland China, and a one-day study tour to the historical
city of Macau, formerly a Portuguese colony.
Fall 2010

coxprogram news

Global Leadership Program

GLP: 2010
Every May more than 100 first-year full-time MBA
students take the trip of a lifetime. This year was no different.
Through Icelandic ash clouds, Indian heat waves and a
European debt crisis, the Cox Global Leadership Program
traveled to the far corners of the world. In Asia, Europe and
India, students gained first-hand knowledge of what it’s
really like to conduct business in a global economy. And they
learned from the very best. CEOs, entrepreneurs, equity firm
partners and top government officials graciously hosted our
students at the headquarters of international companies
such as Roche, GE, Credit
Suisse, Toshiba and IBM.
For more than a decade,
SMU Cox has been
one of the few business
schools to require global
immersion as part of
the MBA curriculum.
The annual two-week
journey requires ample
preparation by students,
faculty and staff. The
Cox Global Leadership
Program team, directed
by Assistant Dean Linda
Kao, personally connects
with business leaders
around the world who
provide students with
rare insiders’ views into
their companies’ global
operations.
A typical GLP itinerary
includes three countries within a given region and personal
visits to a dozen companies. In their downtime, students
eagerly tour the world’s most famous sites and wonders
such as the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Westminster
Abbey and renowned museums. And, of course, they find
plenty of cultural immersion in the cities’ restaurants and
nightlife.
The GLP is a life-changing experience for the students.
They come home enlightened, confident and enthusiastic
about international opportunities just in time to start their
summer internships.

SMU Cox offers global immersion
as part of the Professional MBA and
Executive MBA programs as well. Learn
more at www.coxgrad.com.
www.cox.smu.edu

11

c o x G r a d u at i o n

ongratulates
C
SMU Cox

the members of the Class of 2010

12

Fall 2010

www.cox.smu.edu

13

coxAchievements

Faculty & Staff

Achievements

Jay Carson, assistant
professor of management
and organization,
presented a paper at
the 2010 Academy of
Management Conference
in Montreal titled
“Shared Leadership in
Teams: A Study of Role Switching and Role
Overlap.” He also co-organized a caucus titled
“Leadership as a Collective: Opportunities for
Research in Shared and Distributed Forms of
Leadership.”

Andrew Chen,
distinguished finance
professor, and co-author
Jennifer Warren wrote the
paper, "Sustainable Growth
for China: When Capital
Markets and Greener
Infrastructure Combine."
The paper was accepted for publication at The
Chinese Economy.
Stephanie Dupaul,
former director of BBA
admissions, presented
at the annual meeting of
the National Association
of College Admissions
Counselors in St. Louis,
where she met with high
school counselors regarding business school
admission methods and processes. In August,
she earned her Ed.D. from the University of
Alabama after defending her dissertation,
“Understanding the College Search Behaviors
of Stealth Applicants.” Dupaul was recently
promoted to interim dean of undergraduate
admission and interim executive director of
enrollment management at SMU.
Amar Gande, assistant professor of
finance, had the paper “Bank Debt versus
Bond Debt: Evidence from Secondary Market
Prices” published in the June issue of the
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking (JMCB).

14

He was renewed for an
additional two years as a
member of the editorial
review board (ERB) of the
Journal of International
Business Studies.

Peter Heslin, assistant
professor of management
and organization, was
elected 2010-2011
Professional Development
Workshop Chair for the
Academy of Management
(AOM) Careers Division.
At the AOM annual meeting this year, he
presented a co-authored paper “Daring
to Care About Hidden Unemployment:
Discrimination and Discouragement in
Minority Communities.” This paper won
the 2010 Careers Division Best Paper Award.
He will facilitate a session, “Relationships
in Career Management,” and present in the
Careers Division doctoral consortium as well
as in a session he organized on “Tales and
Insights About Career Tactics that Don’t Fly
Across Cultures.” In addition, Heslin will
mentor junior scholars in the AOM “Careers
in the Rough: Research Development
Workshop.” Heslin soon will begin writing
an invited chapter for the second edition of
“A Theory of Goal Setting and Performance,”
which was rated the most influencial of 73
organizational behavior theories.
Qin Lei, assistant
professor of finance, had
the paper “Financial Value
of Reputation: Evidence
from the eBay Auctions
of Gmail Invitations”
accepted for publication
in the Journal of Industrial
Economics. For the second consecutive year,
he received the Delta Sigma Pi Distinguished
Professor Award. He was also recognized

as a Panhellenic Outstanding Professor for
teaching excellence.
Simon Mak,
adjunct professor and
associate director of
the Caruth Institute for
Entrepreneurship, was
invited to testify in Austin
before the Texas House
Committee on Pensions,
Investments, and Financial Services. He was
asked to provide preliminary findings on his
research project analyzing the economic
impact of the Texas Certified Capital
Company Program (CAPCO). In June, he
presented a paper titled “Why Invest in
Technology Entrepreneurship: A Four Year
Study of Job Growth of Fortune 1000 and 100
Best Places to Work Rankings from 20062009” at the annual Transformative Systems
Conference sponsored by the Society for
Design and Process Science.
William F. Maxwell,
Rauscher Chair in
Financial Investments
and chair of the finance
department, released a
book titled “Leveraged
Financial Markets: A
Comprehensive Guide
to Loans, Bonds and Other High-Yield
Instruments” in July.
Darius Miller, finance
professor and Caruth
Chair in Finance, was
awarded the $10,000 Best
Paper Award by the
Investment Industry
Regulatory Organization
of Canada and DeGroote
School of Business’ Annual Conference on
Market Structure and Market Integrity for his
paper “Uninvited U.S. investors? Economic
Consequences of Involuntary Cross-listings.”

Fall 2010

Cox 2010 Faculty and Staff Awards
At the 2010 Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon in May, Dean Niemi recognized several members of the Cox faculty and staff for
their contributions to the school.
Miguel Quiñones received the Carl Sewell Distinguished Service to the Community Award. Don VandeWalle received the
C. Jackson Grayson Endowed Faculty Innovation Award and Raj Sethuraman received the Eugene T. Byrne Endowed Faculty
Innovation Award. The Boghetich Family Distinguished Teaching Award was awarded to Kumar Venkataraman. Ed Fox and
John Semple received Research Excellence Awards. Charles Besio, Jr., Barry Bryan, Daniel Howard, David Lei, Wayne Shaw
and Catherine Weber received BBA Distinguished Teaching Awards. David Lei, Darius Miller, Tasadduq Shervani, Gregory
Summers and Miguel Quiñones received MBA Outstanding Teaching Awards. Miller also was named 2010 EMBA Most Valuable
Professor. Media Expert Awards were presented to faculty who received the most media coverage in 2009 – from first place to fifth:
Mike Davis, Dan Howard, Bruce Bullock, Bud Weinstein and Mel Fugate. Dean Niemi also recognized staff members for their
outstanding service. Staff awards were given to individuals nominated by their peers. This year’s Staff Recognition Awards went to
Patricia Bryan, Denise Bumford, Ann Campbell, Camilla Drew, Jimi Thompson and Tracy Zygmontowicz.

Maria Minniti,
professor and Bobby
B. Lyle Chair in
Entrepreneurship,
published three refereed
journal articles - “Female
Entrepreneurship and
Economic Activity,”
European Journal of Development Research;
“Entrepreneurial Types and Economic
Growth” with M. Levesque in Journal of
Business Venturing; and “What Do We Know
About the Patterns and Determinants of
Female Entrepreneurship Across Countries?”
with W. Naude in European Journal of
Development Research. Her co-authored
research “Survival and Financing of BlackOwned Startups in the U.S.” was presented
at the American Economics Association
Meeting in Atlanta. In February, her paper
“Slipping the Surly Bonds,” co‑authored with
Cox Professor David Croson, was presented at
the first Joint DIW Berlin/IZA Workshop on
Entrepreneurship Research, Bonn, Germany.
Her co-authored research “Employees’ Breakoffs and the Birth of Industrial Clusters”
was presented at the 2010 Production and
Operations Management Society Annual
Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in
May, and published in the peer-reviewed
proceedings of the same conference. In June,
Minniti presented the keynote address “The
Entrepreneurial Propensity of Women” at the
V GEM Research Workshop at the University
of Cadiz in Spain.
Miguel A. Quiñones, O.
Paul Corley Distinguished
Chair in Organizational
Behavior, was appointed
to the editorial board of
Personnel Psychology.

www.cox.smu.edu

Ulrike Schultze,
associate ITOM professor,
had the co-authored paper
“Stuck in the Conflicted
Middle: A Role-Theoretic
Perspective on B2B
Emarketplaces” accepted
for publication in MIS
Quarterly.
Raj Sethuraman,
chair of the marketing
department, received
the 2010 Outstanding
Reviewer Award from
the Journal of Retailing,
presented at the
summer 2010 American
Marketing Association conference in Boston.
Sethuraman was invited to present “Empirical
Generalizations on Direct to Consumer
Advertising Elasticity” at the Conference
on Marketing Models and Market Research
organized by Stanford University.
Don VandeWalle, chair
of the management and
organization department,
received the SMU
Altshuler Distinguished
Teaching Professor Award
for 2010 through 2012
based on his excellence in
teaching and commitment to student learning.
Glenn Voss, associate
professor of marketing,
had the co-authored paper
“How Complementarity
and Substitution Alter the
Satisfaction-Repurchase
Link” accepted for
publication in the Journal
of Marketing. This research also appeared
as a Marketing Science Institute Report,
“Do Satisfied Customers Always Buy More?

The Roles of Satiation and Habituation in
Customer Repurchase,” and was featured
in “Do Satisfied Customers Always Buy
More,” Insights from MSI; “The Limits of
Consumption,” BizEd; and “Confessions
of a Satiated Consumer,” The Economist’s
Executive Briefing. Voss chaired the 2010 John
A. Howard American Marketing Association
Dissertation Competition and will present
the award at the American Marketing
Association’s Summer Educators’ Conference.
He received a 2010 Best Reviewer Award
from the Journal of Retailing. Glenn Voss and
Zannie Giraud Voss co-presented “Managing
Dynamic Customer Portfolios” at the
Marketing Dynamics Conference in Istanbul,
Turkey.
Bernard "Bud"
Weinstein, adjunct
professor and associate
director of the Maguire
Energy Institute, was
invited to be a regular
contributor to the energy
and environment blog of
the National Journal. He also agreed to write
a column for the Dallas Business Journal.
In May, he was an invited speaker at the
2010 KPMG Global Energy Conference in
Houston, where he addressed “Energy Policy
in a Post-Copenhagen World.” Weinstein
presented a paper, “Urban Tollroads in Dallas:
Using GIS to Assess Their Economic, Fiscal
and Developmental Impacts,” at the Applied
Geography Commission of the International
Geographic Union in Ericeira, Portugal. He
continues to speak regularly to business
and professional associations on economic
conditions and energy policy.

15

c o x N e w Fa c u lt y

New faculty members enrich

school’s academic expertise, draw upon
diverse backgrounds

R

J

I

H M

Richard Alm

Jeffrey Harris

R

Richard Alm serves
as writer-in-residence
for the O’Neil Center
for Global Markets
and Freedom. He was
previously the senior
economics writer at the
Federal Reserve Bank
of Dallas. Alm has also
worked for The Dallas Morning News, U.S. News
& World Report and the Arizona Republic. He
holds a Master’s degree in journalism from the
University of Kansas and Bachelor’s degree in
economics from Florida State University. Alm
has completed graduate studies in economics at
Arizona State University. He is the co-author of
the book Myths of Rich & Poor: Why We’re Better
Off Than We Think. His co-authored opinion
articles are frequently published in The Wall
Street Journal, New York Times and Investor’s
Business Daily.

Jeffrey Harris joins
the Cox School as a
visiting professor and
the James M. Collins
Chair in Finance. He was
previously employed as
the chief economist at the
U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission
and is currently on leave from the University
of Delaware. Harris has a Ph.D. in finance
from The Ohio State University and an MBA in
finance and B.A. in physics from the University
of Iowa. He has been published in journals
including Journal of Financial Economics, Journal
of Investment Management and Journal of
Finance. Harris has taught classes on investment
analysis, derivative investments, management of
financial institutions and investments.

Indraneel Chakraborty

Hyungshin Park

Indraneel Chakraborty,
finance instructor, comes
to the Cox School from
the Wharton School
of the University of
Pennsylvania, where he
will receive his Ph.D. and
currently holds his M.A.
in finance. Chakraborty
earned an M.S. in electrical engineering and
computer science from Massachusetts Institute
of Technology and a B.Tech in computer science
and engineering from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Guwahati. Chakraborty’s research
interests include financial intermediation,
corporate governance, applied econometrics,
capital structure and investment policy, small
business and entrepreneurship and contract
theory. He is an inventor of six patents on
methodology for managing power consumption
in a wireless network for IBM Corporation.

16

Hyungshin Park,
assistant professor of
accounting, comes to
the Cox School from
the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill,
where he received his
Ph.D. and Master’s in
accounting. He has a B.S.
in electrical engineering from Korea Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology, South
Korea. Park’s research interests include bias in
analysts’ forecasts, earnings management and
rational market pricing. He passed the CPA
exam in Georgia and has work experience in
international executive services for KPMG LLP.

R. Canan Savaskan-Ebert

R. Canan SavaskanEbert joins the Cox
School as an associate
professor of information
technology and operations
management. Since 2000,
she had been a tenuretrack faculty member
at the Kellogg School of
Management. In 2009, she visited the R.H. Smith
School of Business at the University of Maryland.
Savaskan-Ebert received her Ph.D. and M.S.
in operations management from INSEAD, and
her M.S. and B.S. in industrial engineering from
Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. Her
research interests include sustainable operations,
supply chain management, operations and
marketing interface and quality management.
Savaskan-Ebert has been published in journals
including Management Science, Transportation
Science and Manufacturing and Service
Operations Management.

Morgan Ward

Morgan Ward comes
to the Cox School as
an assistant professor
of marketing from the
University of Texas at
Austin, where she was
named among the top
two percent of Ph.D.
students for academic
excellence. She received her Ph.D. and MBA
in marketing from UT’s McCombs School of
Business and a B.S. in textiles and apparel from
Cornell University. Ward’s research interests are
consumer behavior, identity and gift-giving. Her
teaching interests include consumer behavior,
brand management, retail merchandising and
marketing management.

Fall 2010

coxin the news

COX

Quotables
The New York Enterprise Report (4/14/2010)

“Move to Texas and Get a Free BMW”
W. Michael Cox, director of the Cox
School’s O’Neil Center for Global Markets
and Freedom, offered a compelling reason
to head to the Lone Star State. “Move
to Texas and get a free BMW!” he said,
based on statistics that professionals
living in the Northeast and California pay
the equivalent of a year’s worth of car
payments in annual personal income tax,
which Texas doesn’t have. This is one
explanation why “every six years Dallas
adds a million people,” Cox said.
The New York Times (4/25/2010)

“New Yorkers Earn More, Early On,
a Study Shows”
Bernard “Bud” Weinstein, adjunct
professor and associate director of the
Maguire Energy Institute, commented
on a recent study revealing the long-term
earning potential of New Yorkers. The
study found that men with college degrees
make more money in New York City than
in other major metropolitan cities, until
they reach their late 30s, at which point the
gap closes. “The New York metro area is
always sucking people in and spitting them
out,” said Weinstein. “I’ve watched this
cycle of all these kids moving to New York
and 10 years later moving back to Dallas.
You discover that you can find employment
in Dallas or Atlanta at a roughly comparable
salary, but in real terms it’s a boost because
the cost of living is much lower.”
The Wall Street Journal (5/4/2010)

“Q&A: A Real Study of Virtual Worlds”
Ulrike Schultze, associate professor of
information technology and operations
management, was interviewed by The Wall
Street Journal’s Digits Blog regarding her
research “What It Means to Be an Avatar:
A Study of Second Life.” The research
offers applications for business and
educational use of virtual worlds. Schultze
said, “I think this is where there are some
www.cox.smu.edu

opportunities of engaging in a form of
role play, you basically extract yourself,
or distance yourself, enough from the
situation and yourself potentially to come
up with new ideas and to learn. That’s
where the avatar plays in.”
Investor’s Business Daily
(5/25/2010 – 7/2/2010)

“Six Economic Themes for the Decade
Ahead”
W. Michael Cox, director of the Cox
School’s O’Neil Center for Global Markets
and Freedom, and Richard Alm, writerin-residence, published a six-part opinion
series focused on technology, globalization,
credit, consumerism, inflation and
government. The week-long series
explored the prospects for each of these
economic drivers in the decade ahead. “All
are likely to play out differently, suggesting
the U.S. economy won’t pick up where it
left off before the Great Recession,” said
Cox and Alm.
The New York Times (6/14/2010)

“For BP, Toll Likely to Extend Past Cleanup”
Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire
Energy Institute, commented on the longterm impact the Gulf spill will have on
BP. “The costs are going to be significant,
yes, and potentially they are an existential
threat to BP,” said Bullock.

Sacramento Bee (7/18/2010)

“Reviving Your Resume”
Director of the SMU Cox Career
Management Center, Dennis Grindle,
commented on what people should do to
keep their résumés relevant. “Hobbies
and interests at the bottom of the page can
be very important as they can highlight
functional skills such as a treasurer of a
fraternity, or leadership/teamwork skills
such as football team captain, or intellect
such as avid chess player,” Grindle said.
“This section can also build bridges of
similarity between the applicant and the
interviewer,” he said.
Financial Times (7/19/2010)

“Banning BP Will Increase Imports”
Adjunct Professor and Associate Director
of the Maguire Energy Institute, Bud
Weinstein, wrote a letter to the editor that
raised questions about the consequences
of banning BP. “A banning of BP could
potentially be harmful for the United
States,” he said. If BP is unable to secure
future offshore lease auctions, it “will
simply accelerate the out-migration of
drilling platforms to other locations,
furthering the economic misery of Gulf
coast residents and increasing America’s
dependence on imported energy,” said
Weinstein.
KRLD-AM (7/27/2010)

Associated Press* (7/5/2010)

“Relief Well is Last Best Hope
to Contain Gusher”
Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire
Energy Institute, commented on BP’s
proposition of a relief well to contain the oil
spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. Bullock
said he was “somewhat suspect” that the
relief well would hit its target on the first
try. “You’re going 18,000 feet to hit a dinner
plate. My guess is two or three times is
more of a likelihood,” he said.
*This quote ran in more than 75 additional
media outlets.

“Afternoon News”
Mike Davis, economics professor,
commented on the 2.9 percent increase in
home prices within the Metroplex from
May 2009 to May 2010. “Compared to
real estate prices elsewhere we’ve been
fortunate here,” Davis said. “For most of
us what we just want is predictability.”
He explained that this increase is not as
dramatic as some of the markets like San
Diego or San Francisco because we didn’t
have a big real estate bubble here. Seven of
the 20 major markets are still dealing with
decline in home values.

17

c o x Fa c u lt y R e s e a r c h

On Being an Avatar:
The Virtual World Second Life
Associate Professor of ITOM Ulrike Schultze

Even before the Na’vi and the U.S. Armed
Forces battled it out in the movie “Avatar,”
Internet users found themselves identifying
with pseudonymns of themselves, or who
they’d like to be in the form of an avatar.
Professor Ulrike Schultze’s new research
delves into the fundamentals of the avatarself relationship through studying residents
of Second Life, the most successful and
accessible virtual world.
Virtual worlds like Second Life are a rich,
dynamic environment to study, according
to Schultze. But businesses and educational
institutions are still trying to figure out how
to use them. At one point, IBM was heavily
invested in Second Life; they even held
team meetings for their globally distributed
employees. Schultze says that many
businesses defected from Second Life in
2007-08, unable to get the “pull-through that
would translate into sales in the real world.”
Some see these worlds as simply 3D web
advertising or technology for technology’s
sake. But Schultze sees much more.

“In real life many of
us are not comfortable
with role playing,”
Schultze observes.
“Avatars help with role playing. Having
an avatar provides the confidence to try
things out you wouldn’t in real life,” her
study participants report. A person could
be a clothes designer in Second Life, and
can then apply those lessons in the real
world. Participants report that their social
awareness is more acute, too.
“This learning environment is important
for business,” Schultze adds. “We overlook
the opportunities to let the environment
create memories, which can happen in
Second Life.” For example, a firm held a
meeting in a fantastic Frank Lloyd Wright
building to leave employees with a unique,
memorable experience.
In Second Life, the opportunities are
vast, with no physical, social or resource
constraints. “Creative opportunities are
afforded that real life might not, such as

reciting poetry at a reading or becoming a
real estate mogul. The study finds that many
see their avatar as their truer self, with no
limits, stereotypes or physical limitations.
“By posing as another, people are more
willing to make mistakes,” she observes. “By
pushing into the role of avatar in Second Life,
one also pulls out experiences. This roleplaying is meaningful.” It’s one big simulation
— a big dress rehearsal.
Best-paper nominee “The Avatar-Self
Relationship: Enacting Presence in Second
Life” with Ph.D. student Matthew Leahy was
presented at the 30th International Conference
on Information Systems. Since then, Schultze
has been interviewed in The Wall Street
Journal and in her avatar form on a virtual set
in Second Life.

What type of pricing strategy does
Apple seem to know well with its
iPods, iPads and iPhones? Many would
call it premium pricing, but there’s
more to the story. In new research,
Professor Sreekumar Bhaskaran
shows that products having “add-ons”
should command a higher price when
consumers are waste-averse. When
you buy the $499 iPad, the $14.99 book
download isn’t so painful, so psychology
and economics would say.
Bhaskaran describes the base
product (iPad) and its add-ons (apps)
as contingent products — the app is
purchased only when the iPad base
product also is purchased. Such product
pairs show up with cell phones, laptops,
hotels and their internet service
offerings, cars and their servicings, and
other co-dependent pairs ad infinitum.
Selling add-ons is appealing to firms for

18

good reasons. Not only does selling addons allow firms to acquire an additional
revenue stream, the practice also enables
them to maintain contact with existing
customers, which may translate into sales
of future products.
The presence of waste aversion among
consumers adds a new wrinkle to this codependency problem. “If a firm increases
the base price of a product, purchasers
are more likely to buy the add-on,”
Bhaskaran says. “There is a very similar
effect in project management research.
Managers don’t want to waste effort and
money. The concept of waste aversion

in a consumer context is novel, however.
Waste aversion is something firms
need to consider in their product
development and pricing strategies,
according to Bhaskaran. In regards to
purchase, “Firms should increase the
price of the base product to encourage
the add-on purchase, even if fewer buy
the base product. The economics favor
this approach.”
The research would say that Apple’s
positioning with relatively high-cost
iPods, iPads and iPhones and their addons—skins, touch-screen plastic shields
and, of course, the apps—helps keep the
value of the base product intact. “The
high-quality product with its add-on
allows for a continuing conversation with
consumers,” Bhaskaran states.
The paper “Selling Base Products and
Add-ons to Waste-averse Consumers”
with Sanjiv Erat is under review.
Fall 2010

Some academics have heralded Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) to be the
new marketing paradigm. Others see it as
a fad. “CRM systems got a bad rap because
firms either did not know how to use them
or did not use them to their full capacity,”
notes Jacquelyn Thomas. She suggests that
firms can devise a simple and inexpensive
CRM-type system. “Look at your current
transaction database, determine the financial
value of customer segments and see what
emerges from it to address customer needs.”
CRM creates the most value when it is
geared toward the firm’s business strategies,
according to new research by Thomas and
colleagues. CRM embodies the key idea
of firms, viewing customers as assets and
managing them to maximize their value
across their lifecycles. CRM can affect future
marketing decisions, such as communication,
price, distribution and brand differentiation.

For example, many hotel chains are
able to flexibly manage their room
pricing based on previously collected
customer data.
CRM can be thought of as an
organizational capability, the authors
say. It’s a source of advantage that permits
businesses to become unique. While CRM
still applies to the operations side, it also
involves learning about the customer’s
role in the delivery process of a product or
service offering to better facilitate exchange.
“You want to more cost-effectively get your
product from point A to B,” she adds. “So,
integrate CRM into both marketing and
operations.”
The study analyzed the responses from
a sample of business executives spanning
10 industries—from energy supply and
forestry to pharmaceuticals and apparel.
In observation of CRM practices, Thomas

says energy
firms studied
their customers and
asked them what was
important when buying
gasoline. To better understand
their customers’ needs, they
had to use CRM to compete, she suggests.
Innovations such as paying at the pump, and
paying even faster with a Speedpass, were
the results of CRM initiatives.
“From the research, we learned that many
managers view CRM in isolation and not
within other strategic contexts,” Thomas
sums up. “CRM enhances other strategies; it
is not an either/or proposition.”
“Customer Relationship Management and
Firm Performance: The Mediating Role of
Business Strategy” with Oliver Schilke and
Martin Reimann is forthcoming in Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science.

In spite of an attempt to make U.S.
financial markets more attractive for foreign
firms, a new Securities and Exchange
Commission deregulation effort has had
the opposite effect. Now, one of the most
historically rare types of cross-listing is the
most prevalent, courtesy of depositary banks
creating unsponsored American deposit
receipts (ADRs). New research by Professor
Darius Miller and co-authors reveals that a
majority of foreign firms are now trading on
over-the-counter (OTC) markets rather than

www.cox.smu.edu

major exchanges, to their detriment.
In 2005-06, New York Stock Exchange
watchers began noticing the trend of
foreign firm listings moving to the relatively
unregulated London market rather than
New York. One change to deregulate
disclosure requirements, amended Rule
12g3-2(b), has caused a worrying trend of
foreign firms being listed here involuntarily.
These foreign firms are now being traded
in the U.S.’s OTC markets, without their
approval or even knowledge. This was not
the intent of the amendment.
The net effect of this
deregulation has been the
destruction of $23 billion in firm
value. And U.S. depositary banks
(and investors) have benefited
at the expense of foreign firms.
Miller says, “It was designed
to reduce the paperwork to
list in the OTC market and
therefore make the U.S. market
more attractive. But the first
order effect was that depositary
banks used the loopholes in
the deregulation to cross-list

hundreds of firms that didn’t want to be
cross-listed.” Unwittingly, foreign firms
trading in the U.S. through an unsponsored
ADR program are liable under state and
federal securities legislation, leaving them
at-risk of class action lawsuits
In the decade before the amendment,
there were a total of 69 unsponsored
programs created; six months following
the amendment, 748 new unsponsored
ADR programs were created. The loophole
allowing the creation of unsponsored ADR
programs resulted in a large positive wealth
gain to these financial institutions.
“The amendment was good for the U.S.
investor but not necessarily the foreign
firms,” Miller states. “Some firms are trying
to distance themselves through language
on their websites, but they are in a bind. If
they try to leave the U.S., there are negative
consequences in terms of valuation and
reputation. So they almost have to become
sponsored and pay the bank fees.”
The paper “Uninvited U.S. Investors?
Economic Consequences of Involuntary
Cross-listings” with Peter Iliev and Lukas
Roth is under review.

19

Albert C. Black, Jr. (EMBA ’95)

Lisbeth McNabb (MBA ’88)

photograph by dan sellers

Angela Dominguez (MBA ’93)

20

Fall 2010

Andy Nguyen (MSE â&#x20AC;&#x2122;11)

Four
On
the
Move
Cox taught these entrepreneurs
invaluable lessons. Now, others
are learning from their leadership
By Dave Moore

B

usiness leadership comes in many forms.
Few leaders, however, are as fearless as the
entrepreneur, an inherent risk taker willing to
shake up a boardroom or revolutionize an entire
industry. Yet it takes more than courage and raw
ambition to compete in a global marketplace. In
order to propel substantial change, professional development
is a lifelong endeavor.
For 90 years, the SMU Cox School of Business has prepared
generations of visionaries with first-in-class programs and
resources, from the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship to
executive mentoring programs and leadership development
centers for undergraduate and graduate business students.

21

Such collaborative learning fosters a community of
entrepreneurship and news-making talent. The broad range of
personalities who have been a part of the Cox community include
Kroger CEO David Dillon, TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie,
Aquila Inc. CEO and President Richard C. Green, and CityCraft
founder Callie Works-Leary, who was named to Inc. magazine’s Top
30 Under 30 list for 2010.
Four more entrepreneurs to watch are these individuals who
comprise a wide range of industries and expertise. Some started
with street-smart intuition or a passionate tenacity. All believe in the
importance of building up their employees and communities.
And they also share another common thread—they all chose Cox to
help them get there.

Albert C. Black, Jr.
Founder and CEO
On-Target Supplies & Logistics

Albert C. Black, Jr. remembers trucks
rolling through the South Dallas housing
project where he lived, observing as free
lunches were handed to his friends.
Though he was only six, Black refused
to get in line.
“Children ought not be taught to get
something free,” Black (EMBA ’95) recalls.
Always determined to forge his own path,
by age 10, he put his entrepreneurial
spirit into action by launching a lawncare
business. Unlike his competitors, he told
customers to name their price.
Hard work and
determination pushed
him forward. Years later,
he founded and operated
On-Target in 1982, even
as he worked a night job.
His logistics company
grew by leaps and
bounds, but by the
1990s, he wanted to
broaden his base of
knowledge and grow
his company more
strategically. Black
selected the Cox
MBA program to
do so.
“We believed
there were some
serious systems
and control
matters,” says Black,

22

who knew enough to realize what he
didn’t know.
Before he entered Cox, Black concedes,
many decisions were made on a more
intuitive basis. The survival of On-Target
through the recession is a testament to the
effectiveness of what he’s learned at Cox,
Black says.
The key, he says, is that the curriculum
taught him to identify valuable employees
to bring aboard—those who can help his
business thrive.
“The real test of a company’s success
comes when you can withstand the
successful days and manage through
the most difficult days,” Black says. By
earning the goodwill of both employees
and customers, On-Target has managed to
retain both, he says. “You need to navigate
through the economy when it’s cloudy
and foggy. You may pull over, but it doesn’t
mean you’ve stopped. It means you’ve
paused. You need to find the clear road and
take that one.”
Given that philosophy, it’s easy to see
why Black is a star continuing to rise,
perhaps even to political office.
Longtime Dallas political insiders
say Black has all the makings of a Dallas
mayor—something he hasn’t ruled out.
For now, Black says, he’s interested in
expanding his company’s ventures.
As On-Target increases its inventory
tracking services throughout the nation,
the company’s professional development
service continues to grow as well.
Appropriately titled ReadyToWork, this
division supplies staffing and job training
to clients in 22 cities across the country.
“These are exciting times,” Black says.

Lisbeth McNabb
Founder/President
W2Wlink

Entrepreneur Lisbeth
McNabb (MBA ’88)
has spent more than 25
years with Fortune 500
companies, but the
newest wave she’s
making is through
her own webbased venture.
Realizing that
women may not
always receive
the resources
to advance to
the executive
level, she launched
W2Wlink, a social
networking site to help
female professionals
get to the top, only
faster.
W2Wlink’s recent
collaboration with
Dallas-based ClubCorp to
honor women advancing
to top executive positions
has met with great success
at events in Dallas and eight
other U.S. cities.
“We are building a technology and
service to bring the executive coach
to all, versus the present model that
provides a high-quality executive coach
to the executive—only there for the few,”
McNabb says.
Her time spent at Cox equipped her for
the diverse career path she’s taken. “My
SMU MBA was critical to my being able to
work in a range of functional roles, from
strategy to operations and be able to work
in four very different industry sectors.”
Her portfolio has ranged from a position
on the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
board of directors, to serving as the chief
financial officer at Match.com as well as
executive positions at PepsiCo, Frito-Lay
and Sodexo Marriott.
Through it all, McNabb continues to
benefit from the Cox network. “Cox also
gave me several of my dearest friends
and one of them is an investor in my new
company. They—with many at Cox from
Jerry White to Dean Niemi and Kevin
Knox—have mentored me at key stages of
my career change points.”

Fall 2010

Andy Nguyen

MSE Student and U.S. Marine
As a first-generation Vietnamese
American, Andy Nguyen (MSE ’11) has had
two lifelong passions: serving his country
and pursuing the American Dream.
Since he was a child, Nguyen admired his
father, a veteran who fought in the Vietnam
War while serving in the Vietnamese Navy
and eventually made his way to America to
start his own business.
“No one ever told him he couldn’t do
something.” Nguyen said. “That meant he
would do it.”
So it came as no surprise when, at 18,
Nguyen turned his passion for fast cars
into his first venture, Prodigy Motorsports.
“Passion doesn’t necessarily equal smart
business,” Nguyen says. “The business
turned after a couple of years, but the
learning experience was priceless. It
just goes to show that having a formal
business plan is critical in the world
of entrepreneurship. Experience plus
education definitely gives entrepreneurs a
sustainable competitive advantage.”
While Nguyen was in college, the 9/11
attacks occurred. Compelled to take action,

Angela Dominguez

President
Renaissance Contractors Partnership
Amidst commentary about rising
college tuition is a pearl of wisdom from
Angela Dominguez (MBA ’93): “Tuition
is cheaper than trial and error in the real
world.”
Before she dared to strike out
on her own, Dominguez made
the decision to attend the Cox
Professional MBA program
while working full-time for
Austin Bridge & Road Inc. as a
civil engineer.
Her experience at Cox
prepared her to start a
subcontracting business with
her husband, Mike Barber.
Together, they launched
Renaissance Contractors
Partnership with just six
employees in 1995 to fill
a void in the market for a
Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise (DBE) that could
install utility lines—including
www.cox.smu.edu

he followed his calling and joined the
Marines. Nguyen proudly served from 20022006 before returning to the University of
North Texas to complete his bachelor’s in
entrepreneurship.
“I love being an entrepreneur, and I love
the Marine Corps,” he says. “It’s all about the
ability to handle adversity.”
After transitioning out of active duty,
Nguyen started a small Internet marketing
and web development firm in Dallas
called WSI Search. He is also a franchise
consultant with The Entrepreneur
Authority, where he advises entrepreneurs
which franchises best fit their personalities
and desires. Once he completes his Master
of Science in Entrepreneurship (MSE) at
the Cox School, he intends to pursue yet
another venture: an organization that would
help Marines transition into the business
world. With his experience, he knows
there’s a built-in marketplace, with 30,000 to
40,000 former Marines joining the civilian
workforce each year.
Meanwhile, he still serves in the Marine
Reserves, traveling frequently to train other
Marines from state to state. How does he
make it all work? “It’s the Marine in me,” he
says. “If we don’t have a million things on

sewer lines, water lines and stormdrainage pipes.
Their company has served as
subcontractor for some of the state’s highprofile transit projects built for TxDOT,
Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas-Fort
Worth International Airport and the
North Texas Tollway Authority, among
others.
“Our business is capital-intensive—it
requires a lot of heavy equipment, and
it’s expensive,” she says. “We’re a
subcontractor, so payment isn’t always
immediate. I learned at SMU that cash
flow is very important for a thriving
business.”
Her degree didn’t insulate
Renaissance from the ups
and downs of the business
world, but this advice from
her professors helped
substantially: Maintain a
good relationship with a
local banker.
Fifteen years later,
her company is standing
financially strong and
growing, employing 111.

our plate, we’re not happy.”
Even though the Marines instill the
tenacity to get things done and walk into any
boardroom with confidence, the business
acumen from his experience at Cox has
helped him elevate the conversation and
pursue new opportunities.
“The wealth of knowledge of the
faculty, alumni and guest speakers
has been invaluable. It doesn’t
seem like class but mini-seminars
… the case studies and open
discussions are exactly what
I’m drawn to.”
Whatever challenges
are ahead, Nguyen
is prepared. “In the
Marines, missions change
frequently and we learn
the ability to adapt and
overcome,” he says. “It’s
the same thing in the
world of entrepreneurship;
the markets change and we
have to be resilient. Think
of it this way: If everyone quit
when things got tough, then
there wouldn’t be a Marine
Corps or an economy.”

Lifelong Learning

As these four entrepreneurs prove, the
insights and connections gained from
Cox have been instrumental to their
ability to continuously adapt and thrive as
industries and careers change.
As McNabb reflects on her degree and
the people she’s met along her Fortune
500 path, “I have many team members
and clients who have felt affinity from
a shared SMU background and many
others with MBAs from other schools
who see me as a peer.”
Dominguez still draws lessons from her
experiences as a student of Rogge Dunn, a
high-power Dallas trial lawyer and SMU
alumnus who now teaches business law
for SMU’s EMBA program.
“Every Saturday morning he would
draw a name, and that person would be on
the hot seat, and he would grill them with
questions,” she recalls. “It taught me to be
prepared. I was never on the hot seat, but
I feared it. When we own a business, we
are on the hot seat every day.”
From Executive Education programs to
a range of MBA programs suited for today’s
working professional, visit cox.smu.edu for
resources to help your career.

23

Are You an
Entrepreneurial
Thinker?
?

Fall 2010

1

2

4

3

5

Genetics or just plain hard work?
Jerry White and Scott Walker share

5

traits of successful business starters

By Mark Stuertz

Photography by Dan Sellers
www.cox.smu.edu

25

Y

Years ago, Scott Walker woke up every morning in a
cold sweat. He agonized over complexities necessary
to keep BillMatrix Corporation, his direct payment
solutions firm, functioning properly.

<

Entrepreneur
Scott Walker

26

Virtually every company that
attempted to do what he was doing
had failed. Visa, with its billions in
resources, wanted to crush him. “I
used to call it death by a thousand
cuts,” says Walker. “There were
a thousand things that had to
happen. But if any one of those
things did not occur in that
transaction, it failed. Look, if I
had known what I was going to
encounter, I never would have
done it.”
Yet Walker did it again. In 2005,
he sold BillMatrix to Fiserv, Inc.
for $350 million. He turned right
around and started another company:
ProCore Labs, a Dallas-based contract
filler of health and beauty products.
Walker is a member of a rare and
glorified species: the entrepreneur.
Is an entrepreneur born or made? If
they’re made, how can one learn and
absorb the essential entrepreneurial
spirit and marshal the thought
processes for success?
The answers are certainly
as diverse and varied as the
entrepreneurial demographic.
“Entrepreneurs are both made
and born,” says Benjamin Hurt,
24, founder of granola maker
Impact Foods. “You can be born
with creative vision and a certain
perseverance. But certain habits
need to be learned.”
Researchers seem to concur.
According to a study co-authored
by Professor Scott Shane of Case
Western Reserve University’s
Weatherhead School of Management,
examining sets of both identical
and fraternal twins, specific
entrepreneurial aptitudes—such
as the ability to discern business
opportunities—are largely driven
by genetic factors. Forty percent
of the entrepreneur’s portfolio of
aptitudes and skills is due to genetics,
the researchers concluded, while 60
percent of those same skills can be
attributed to environmental influences

and learned capabilities.
“Entrepreneur” is applied to a variety
of roles, says Jerry White, director of Cox’s
Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship, one
of the first such programs offered in the
United States. The title could refer to a small
business owner-manager, a husband-andwife team operating a family business or a
lifestyle business designed by its founders
to generate a specific level of income—and
no more. Yet such roles don’t necessarily
touch the true spirit of what it means to be a
genuine entrepreneur.
“The term is overused,” insists Walker,
a self-described “serial entrepreneur”
who has launched six businesses and is at
work on a seventh. He is a member of the
Cox Executive Board, guest lecturer and
financial contributor to Cox through the
Caruth Institute, as well as a proud parent
of a current Cox student, Cameron Walker
(BBA ’10, MSA ’11). “Anyone who picks up
the phone in their home is an entrepreneur.
When I started, no one wanted to be known
as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs were
those crazy, wacko guys in the garage
constantly experimenting.”
From behavioral patterns to operating
beliefs, Walker and White outline five unique
traits successful entrepreneurs typically have
in common.
Relentlessly pursue growth
Howard H. Stevenson of Harvard
Business School best defines the role as: A
person who pursues opportunity without
regard to resources already controlled. “If
I need it, I’ll get it. If I need people, I’ll find
them. If I need money, I’ll raise it,” White
emphatically explains. “Entrepreneurship
implies growth.”
1

Have stamina
“There is a certain amount of
psychological makeup that you have to
have to play the entrepreneurial game,”
White says. “If for nothing else than to cope
with the stress and muster the physical
stamina necessary to stay up all night, and
stay up all night again, and still make good
decisions.” High-performance entrepreneurs
are typically realistic individuals who
2

Fall 2010

Write your own rules
Entrepreneurs typically have superior
conceptual abilities, or the capacity to
formulate abstractions, analyze complex
situations and think creatively to solve
problems. They also have the heightened
capacity to thrive in chaotic environments,
making sound decisions when confronted
with conditions characterized by a scarcity
of relevant information.
Walker describes it as living in a fog. “If
you want to be an entrepreneur, you’ve got
to be able to live on the edge,” he says. “To be
looking where no one else is looking, where
the rules have yet to be written, where a
market hasn’t yet been established, where
there is nothing to support you. Once the
rules are written, the game’s over.”
3

Take challenges, but don’t gamble
Entrepreneurs often are thought of as
bold risk takers—gamblers who bet the farm
on a long shot. But such characterizations
are more cliché than reality, White says.
Long-term successful entrepreneurs are
moderate risk takers. They hedge their
bets. “On the average, gamblers are losers,”
White insists. “On the average, hedgers
are winners. It’s more helpful to talk about
entrepreneurs as challenge takers, rather
than risk takers. They like to pit themselves
against a challenge, overcome that challenge
and then raise the bar.”
On the surface, entrepreneurs may
appear reckless because they play for big
stakes. Everything is on the table. Yet what
may look like a high-risk gambit to the
casual observer may simply be a workable
challenge for the insightful entrepreneur.
Mortgaging a house and other personal
assets to fund a startup is actually a
calculated risk supported by abundant
data and market-insider savvy. The upstart
entering a market saddled with debt may
have several ways to service that
debt. They may have lined
up options in advance to
restructure debt should
things go awry. Or they may
have calculated that the
sheer force of value created
by their enterprise will
overwhelm high startup costs.
4

www.cox.smu.edu

Successful entrepreneurs are often adept
with such judgment calls, says White.
“How are you going to pay your bills?”
Walker asks. “I’m not worried because I
have enough faith in myself that I can create
value. I believe there are very few people
out there who can go out and create value.
That’s why you have 99 percent of the world
out there working for somebody else.”
In addition to what is seemingly an
unwavering faith in their capabilities,
successful entrepreneurs also have an
uncanny ability to rapidly absorb data and
learn fast enough to stay on top of problems.
“Where people get into trouble is when they
emotionalize a problem,” White says. “If
you let problems debilitate you, or diminish
your fighting ability, you are not going to
win. The best entrepreneurs are, of course,
very concerned, but they seem to have a
dispassion, a belief that ‘we can solve this
problem. We’ll get through this.’”
Remain disciplined,
not distracted
Successful entrepreneurs, says White,
stay very focused on solving problems,
and they assiduously avoid distractions
from side issues. Instead of morning
sweats, Walker says he now
wakes up every morning
anticipating the day’s
challenges, excited by how
he might change the world.
Instead of fearing problems,
he embraces them.
Yet what many aspiring
entrepreneurs may not
realize is that coming up
with a world-changing idea
and developing a company
is the easy part. The grueling
part involves the discipline of
execution. “There are a million
ideas out there,” concludes
Walker. “Being an entrepreneur
is taking that idea and creating
a viable, profitable company
around that idea. It’s simple. But
it’s the most difficult thing you
will ever do.”

possess a never-ending sense of urgency,
White adds. These individuals don’t waste
time agonizing over failure. Instead, they
view circumstances as they exist and resolve
to leverage them to their advantage.

Making a
global impact:
Benjamin Hurt
Benjamin Hurt (BBA ’08) is a serial
business starter. At age six, he started a
currency carnival in his neighborhood,
inventing games kids could play using
nickels, dimes and quarters.
After getting cut from his school’s
basketball team at the age of 14, Hurt turned
his misfortune into a business, founding a
summer basketball camp for kids ages six
through 11. He ran his camp for six years,
hiring the players on the team that cut him.
He even launched two clothing
companies before founding Impact Foods
with fellow student Blaine Iler. The core of
Hurt’s business philosophy is a quest to find
marketplace solutions to global challenges.
Thus Impact Foods, a maker of all-natural
granola, donates a portion of its profits
from each sale to provide meals for needy
children throughout the world.
“We offer a solution in the form of
convenient philanthropy,” says
Hurt, 24. What are the essential
entrepreneurial traits according to
Hurt? A bias toward action coupled
with a strong dose of optimism and
ruthless persistence.
“You have to look at the world
through a lens of opportunity,” he
says. “You have to see it through
to the end. Even if you’re failing,
you’re failing forward.”

The Caruth
Institute for
Entrepreneurship
A Pioneer in
Entrepreneurial
Education

T

wo years into an
entrepreneurial journey that
would eventually lead to the
creation of The Container
Store in the late 1970s, cofounder Garrett Boone found himself still
struggling to put his finger on the idea.
Boone had recently left his position as
regional manager at Storehouse–a chain
of lifestyle furniture stores–to explore
the notion of creating a handmade wood
furniture store with his business partner,
Kip Tindell. Heeding the advice of his
mother, Boone enrolled in the Caruth
Institute’s “Starting A Business” course.
“The course was extremely valuable.
It forced me to focus on the business of
starting a business and think in a more
disciplined manner about what it would
take to launch our dream. It helped me
separate my passion for woodworking from
the reality of starting a business, and that
was an important step on the path to The
Container Store,” said Boone.
As one of the first entrepreneurship
centers in the nation, the Caruth
Institute for Entrepreneurship has been

28

an inspiration and resource for many
potential business owners such as Boone.
Established at SMU Cox in 1970 by real
estate legend and business mogul W.W.
Caruth, Jr., the Institute is one of the
nation’s most highly regarded centers for
entrepreneurial education.

Garrett Boone

In the late 1960s and 70s, most business
schools trained students to work for
large businesses, not to start their own.
There were few textbooks and traditional
academics did not see the merit in an
entrepreneurship focus. However, a few
industry pioneers saw entrepreneurial
education as a discipline and recognized it
as an emerging field.
Enter the visionary William Walter
Caruth, Jr., who initially put up capital–not
an endowment–so that the Caruth Institute
would run like a real-life business. The
program had to be developed from scratch.
At the time, Jerry White, director of
the Caruth Institute, was a Cox graduate
student when he met Dr. John Welsh, who
had been hired to establish the Caruth
Institute as its founding director. Welsh
had started one business and co‑founded
another, both of which eventually found
their way to the NYSE. White took all of
Welsh’s courses, and, upon graduation,
Welsh asked White to stay at Cox as
associate director and help develop the
Institute.
White and Welsh forged ahead, creating
Fall 2010

“It’s mind‑
boggling,
the overall
importance
internationally of
entrepreneurship
education and
the contribution
that it makes
to the overall
entrepreneurial
phenomenon.”

-Jerry White

William Walter Caruth, Jr.

courses and innovative programs, while
striving to gain recognition for the
academic discipline of entrepreneurial
education. According to the Ewing
Marion Kauffman Foundation, an
institution devoted to entrepreneurship,
by 1975 there were 104 majors, minors and
certificates offered in entrepreneurship
across the nation.
Today, the Caruth Institute offers a full
range of entrepreneurial programs.
For SMU Cox students, the Caruth
Institute offers 23 graduate and
undergraduate courses in entrepreneurship.
As students, MBAs and EMBAs have the
opportunity to participate in several annual
business plan competitions. The Cox MBA
Venture Fund, along with its affiliated
course, Venture Capital Practicum, gives
students hands-on experience making
venture capital investments in growthoriented businesses. And for those
wanting further concentration into the
study of entrepreneurship, Cox recently
launched a 16-month Master of Science in
Entrepreneurship.
The Caruth Institute is inextricably
www.cox.smu.edu

linked to the business community.
Thousands of budding entrepreneurs, like
Garrett Boone, got their start through the
Caruth Institute’s eight-week “Starting
A Business” course. Also renowned,
the Southwest Venture Forum provides
entrepreneurs the opportunity to network
with potential venture investors.
Highly coveted and widely reported,
the Caruth Institute’s Dallas 100TM Awards

Jerry White and John Welsh

honors the 100 fastest-growing, privately
held companies in Dallas each year.
In all, White has taught and counseled
more than 20,000 aspiring and practicing
entrepreneurs throughout the United
States and Canada since 1972, including
Boone; Lee Posey, chairman and founder,
Palm Harbor Homes; Bill and Julie Brice,
who built I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt; and
Chris Cook (BBA ’91), who with his wife,
Christine, built Sleep Experts into a major
industry player. In 2005, the Caruth
Institute received national recognition,
ranking fifth among the nation’s top
programs for entrepreneurship in
Entrepreneur magazine.
“The impact of entrepreneurs on
economies is much better understood
today than it was in the beginning. It
is now a global movement and even
embraced by countries that were once
under the control of communism,”
said White. “It’s mind‑boggling, the
overall importance internationally of
entrepreneurship education and the
contribution that it makes to the overall
entrepreneurial phenomenon.”

29

The Life of An Endowment

A Gift that
Keeps On
Giving
I

n this and future issues of CoxToday, we’ll bring the cycle of an endowment to life by sharing
the vision of our generous donors, the gifted professors and the students who are the ultimate
beneficiaries. Perhaps you, too, will be moved to make a lasting impression on your school via such
a bequest or at least appreciate the life span and everlasting impact these thoughtful gifts impart.

Professor and Bobby B. Lyle
Chair in Entrepreneurship
For 40 years, the Caruth Institute for
Entrepreneurship has inspired budding
entrepreneurs from all walks of life to
pursue their dreams of starting a business.
Like other Cox School programs, the
success of the Caruth Institute not only
is driven by a dynamic curriculum that
incorporates the latest global business
trends, but also by the strength and
expertise of its professors who bring that
knowledge to life in the classroom.
Bobby B. Lyle (’67) saw an opportunity
to ensure the Caruth Institute would
continue to deliver academic excellence
via exceptional faculty when he generously
endowed a professorship of entrepreneurial
studies in 2006. “SMU has been an
extremely important part of my life for the
past 40 years,” he said. “I hope this gift will
help Cox achieve the levels of academic
excellence to which it aspires.”
Dr. Lyle, founder of Lyco Energy, a
petroleum and natural gas exploration and

30

production company, has a long history
of providing visionary leadership at SMU
and the Cox School. Among his many
contributions, Lyle served on the Cox
faculty from 1967-1975 and was dean ad
interim and executive dean from 1970-1975.
He serves as a member of the SMU Board
of Trustees and the executive boards of the
Lyle School of Engineering and the Cox
School of Business. He also co-founded
the highly regarded Cox Associate Board,
through which business students connect
with more than 250 professional mentors.
Frequently acknowledged for his civic
and educational contributions, Lyle was
honored by SMU when the University
named the school of engineering the Bobby
B. Lyle School of Engineering in 2008. The
Lyle School seeks to “educate engineers to
be leaders and creative thinkers, prepared
to take on the most profound challenges
confronting society and our planet.”
Thanks to his generosity, Lyle’s globally
minded spirit and tireless passion for
education will be perpetually embodied
in the Bobby B. Lyle Professor of

Entrepreneurial Studies.
Dean Niemi said, “Entrepreneurship has
long been a major focus at the Cox School.
Bobby Lyle’s wonderful gift enables us to
encourage globally-innovative approaches
with faculty who know how to prepare
students for new challenges in the rapidly
changing world of business.” With Lyle’s
participation and endorsement, the Cox
School hired Professor Maria Minniti to
fulfill this vision.
Dr. Minniti is a prolific author, editor
and researcher who has taught at the
London Business School, the Max Planck
Institute and Humboldt University in
Germany, and the Copenhagen Business
School in Denmark. For 15 years, Minniti
held permanent faculty positions at NYU,
Skidmore College and Babson before
joining SMU Cox in 2008.
Minniti is passionate about her research
on gender and minority entrepreneurship,
entrepreneurial behavior and
entrepreneurship’s impact on economic
growth. She is a highly sought lecturer
who frequently shares her findings at
Fall 2010

Bobby Lyle and
Maria Minniti

Maria Minniti
Margret Kanyua with her daughter, Peninah Muguku

conferences around the world. She chose
SMU because of the many opportunities
the School and Dallas offer and because of
Cox’s “excellent leadership.” She explained,
“Dean Niemi and (Senior Associate Dean)
Bill Dillon are both accomplished scholars.
They understand how academia works and
what the faculty needs.” When she shared
her ideas for the endowed chair, they simply
told her, “Go do it!” so she could get to work
quickly.
Like her endowment’s namesake, Minniti
combines a passion for global causes with
a hands-on, no-nonsense approach. It’s a
formidable combination with universal
application. She shares one of her current
www.cox.smu.edu

projects, which she says is only possible
because of the vision of Bobby Lyle. “I am
comparing 40-60 developed and developing
countries. I want to understand, ‘why does
one thing work in the U.S. and not work in
Argentina?’” Her findings may help break
down barriers to entry and shed light
on what markets and entrepreneurship
mean around the world. With her depth
of experience and ability to captivate a
classroom, Minniti quickly became a favorite
at the Cox School.
Peninah Muguku (MSE ’08) found a
mentor and kindred spirit in Minniti.
Growing up in Kenya, Muguku came from
a family of entrepreneurs. Her father, who

built a successful trade business exporting
African art, told her, “Study hard. Be a doctor
or a lawyer, but don’t do what I’m doing!”
Instead of heeding his advice, she launched
a flower business before deciding to pursue
her Master of Science in Entrepreneurship
at SMU Cox. There, she found her realworld experience made academic studies
far more meaningful. “We would read about
situations in class and I would think, ‘hey,
I made that mistake!’” She laughs, “I was a
real-life case study!”
Hungry for more, Muguku is now
pursuing a Ph.D. in entrepreneurial studies.
Minniti is helping her vet doctorate
programs and providing her with hands-on
research experience. “She’s giving me papers
to read and challenging me to come up with
topics for my own research,” she explained.
“Professor Minniti goes above and beyond!”
As an entrepreneur and teacher, Muguku
hopes to apply her skills to public policy
in other parts of the world. Following
the vision set by Lyle and the teachings of
Minniti, she will share the knowledge and
inspiration she found at the Cox School
far and wide. Her efforts to cultivate
entrepreneurship are both admirable and
sincere. Muguku simply concludes, “I want
to make a difference.” Thanks to the Lyle
endowment, she will.

31

coxdevelopment

E
T
A
D
UP

25%

20%

15%

SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign is the greatest campaign endeavor in SMU’s history. Securing
significant support for scholarships and student support, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience
10%
will help define SMU’s second century. Annual alumni giving participation
– no matter the amount - is equally defining
for SMU, which is why two of the goals for this Campaign revolve around continuing to increase alumni involvement
5%
on an annual basis, in perpetuity.
The graphical depictions of the three Campaign goals below outline our progress as of August 31,2.02%
2010. As we
continue our momentum toward achieving our goals, we thank you
for
your
support
of
SMU
and
the
Cox School of
0%
'05-'06
'06-'07
'07-'08
'08-'09
'09-'10
'10-'11
'11-'12
'12-'13 Yearly Goal
Business. If you are interested in giving, please contact the Cox Development Office at 214.768.3890.

Campaign Yearly Alumni Participation Goal: 25% per year

Campaign Cumulative Alumni Participation Goal: 50% by 2013

25%

50%

20%

40%

45%
37.3%

35%
15%

30%

10%

20%

5%

10%

25%

15%

2.02%

5%
0%

0%
'05-'06

'06-'07

'07-'08

'08-'09

'09-'10

'10-'11

'11-'12

'12-'13

Yearly Goal

'05-'06

'06-'07

'07-'08

'08-'09

Campaign Financial Goal: $750 million
Quiet Phase
50%

$800,000,000

45%

$700,000,000

40%

$600,000,000
37.3%

35%

$500,000,000

30%

$400,000,000

25%

$300,000,000

20%

$200,000,000

15%

$100,000,000

10%

$0

Public Phase
$750,000,000

$452,931,566.58

Results
Goal

Jan '06

Jan '07

'10-'11

Component
'11-'12
'12-'13

Jan '08

Jan '09

Jan '10

Jan '11

Jan '12

Jan '13

Dec '13

5%
0%
'05-'06

'06-'07

'07-'08

'08-'09

'09-'10

2013 Goal

Goal by 2013

Status as of 2/10

Scholarships and
Fellowships

$200,000,000

$101,484,857

Faculty and
Academic Excellence

$350,000,000

$206,672,164
$92,032,454

Campus
Experience

$200,000,000

Awaiting Donor Designation

$0

$21,114,167

TOTAL

$750,000,000

$421,303,642

Gift Value

Donors

$25,000,000+

2

Total of Gifts Received by Level
$70,415,745

$10,000,000+

6

$98,225,701

$5,000,000+

7

$44,359,555

$2,500,000+

10

$33,131,932

$1,000,000+

41

$60,981,991

$500,000+

42

$25,627,900

$250,000+

62

$20,399,631

$100,000+

166

$23,085,330

'09-'10

'10-'11

'11-'12

'12-'13

2013 Goal

coxdevelopment

Giving Societies Recognize Faithful and Generous Supporters

As part of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, we are providing special ways in which to honor some of our most loyal donors
through the SMU giving societies. Here, we recognize just a few of our supporters who make an impact each day at SMU Cox and the giving
society to which they belong.

President’s Associates
The President’s Associates are donors who contribute cumulatively $1,000 or more to any area of the University
during our fiscal year, June 1 – May 31.
• Membership, awarded each year, is based on total gifts, pledge payments and matching gifts received in the previous fiscal year.
• Alumni under 35 who graduated from SMU within the past 10 years are eligible for membership
at 50 percent of the minimum gift amount.
• Benefits include special communication from SMU, acknowledgement in SMU publications
and invitations to special University and donor events.

Candice Chandler (BA ’68) and Steve Barnett (BBA ’69, JD ’72)
Candice Chandler and Steve Barnett met at SMU and say the education they received and lifelong friendships they
developed at SMU are invaluable. “We believe in giving back to SMU to help current students and to support the
University that had such a positive impact on our lives. We met at SMU, received an excellent education and made
lifelong friendships,” said Barnett. Chandler and Barnett attend all home football games and sometimes travel to support
the team. They live in Dallas and enjoy spending time with their grandchildren and traveling. Chandler and Barnett
have been supporters of SMU and the Cox School at the President’s Associates level since 1996.
For more information about President’s Associates visit: www.smu.edu/donor

www.cox.smu.edu

33

coxdevelopment

Hilltop Society
The Hilltop Society honors donors who have shown a commitment to giving every year.
• Recognition is based on the number of consecutive years of giving.
• A gift, given every year, to any area of the University exponentially adds up and deserves special recognition.
• Milestones for recognition are: two years, five years, 10 years, 15 years and 20 years of giving.
• Members receive special communication from SMU, acknowledgement in SMU publications
and invitations to University and donor events.

Lieutenant Colonel George B. Alden (BBA ’50)
George Alden was a distinguished military student in the ROTC program on campus and received the first regular Air
Force commission awarded at SMU. He served in Korea shortly after graduation. Following a successful military career,
Lt. Col. Alden, a Purple Heart recipient, retired from the Air Force in 1977 and joined Hughes Aircraft Company in Los
Angeles. Alden says, “My degree from SMU gave me an opportunity to get into the procurement field where my business
skills were put to use in contract negotiations, management and production of aircraft and missiles. I choose to support
SMU and the Cox School every year because it is an exceptional school and I am very proud to be an alumnus.” Alden
has been a loyal, consecutive supporter of SMU and the Cox School of Business since 1979.

For more information about the Hilltop Society, visit: www.smu.edu/donor.

34

Fall 2010

coxdevelopment

Dallas Hall Society
Named for SMU’s first building on campus and the heart of academic and intellectual life, the Dallas Hall Society
recognizes the generosity and foresight of those who are securing SMU’s future through planned gifts.
Membership is extended to those who:
• include SMU as a beneficiary in his or her will or living trust;
• name SMU as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan;
• name SMU as a beneficiary of a life income gift (a remainder trust, a gift annuity or lead trust); or
• make a gift of a personal residence or farm to SMU, while retaining life estate.
• SMU honors Dallas Hall Society members with a limited edition print of a painting of Dallas Hall,
a certificate of membership and invitations to special events.

Stephen Perkins (BBA ’07)
Growing up in Dallas, Stephen Perkins knew early on that SMU was the place
where he would excel and be best prepared to achieve his goals. Perkins’ mother
made sure that receiving a great education was a top priority so she sent him to
Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, where Perkins worked hard in order
to secure significant scholarships that would help make his dream of attending
SMU a reality. When asked why he decided to give back to SMU the way he
did, Perkins says, “I was very lucky to be able to attend SMU in the first place. I
have an obligation to give back what was so abundantly given to me.” Perkins
graduated with his BBA in 2007 and built a practice in the DFW area, where he
builds “bridges” for his clients – connecting their financial plans to their life plan.
In a way, that’s what Perkins has done by including SMU Cox in his estate plans;
he has built a bridge between his desire to support SMU Cox today and securing
that support for the future.

Susan (BS ’67) and Bob (BBA ’67) Wilson
Dallas Hall Society members, Susan and Bob Wilson, say that they owe much
to their alma mater. The Wilsons, married for more than 40 years, met at SMU
not having met previously in their shared hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
When asked why they chose to give back to SMU and the Cox School through
their estate plans, Bob says, “We owe so much of our professional success to the
education we each received at SMU, and it is because of the values instilled in us
by our parents that we give back to support others.” Through their annual giving
to the Cox School, the Wilsons have established the Wilson Scholars Program
benefitting upper-class BBA students who give back to the community. Over
the years, many students, often from Tennessee, have reaped the rewards of the
Wilsons’ generous spirit. The Wilsons’ estate gift will ensure that the Wilson
Scholars Program at SMU’s Cox School of Business lasts in perpetuity.

For more information, please contact the Cox Office of Development
at 214.768.3890 or visit: www.smu.edu/plannedgiving.

Honor
Roll
of
Donors
Thanks for
Your Generosity
The Cox School gratefully
acknowledges the support of
individuals, foundations and
organizations that made gifts
to the Cox School from June 1,
2009 - May 31, 2010.

No matter where
you live, work, or
travel, you will
always be close to a
Cox alumnus.
Take a look at the Cox Alumni
Association Board of Directors.
New members have joined and they
may be in your area. Send them an
e-mail and say “hello.”
The Cox Board works with alumni
around the world to organize a
range of activities that benefit
alumni, friends, students, parents,
faculty, administrators, community
partners, company executives and
corporate sponsors.
Check out the new look on our
website at www.cox.smu.edu. Click
on Alumni and keep up with our
on-campus programs and our onthe-road receptions, tailgates, and
much more.
If you have recently moved or
changed employers, please update
your information. You can do so
on the website or just e-mail us at
gshearin@cox.smu.edu.
Stay in touch with Kevin Knox,
assistant dean of external relations
and executive director of the Cox
Alumni Association, at 214.768.8338
or kknox@cox.smu.edu.

Alumni Profiles
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
Joseph M. (Jody) Grant (BBA ’60)
Chairman Emeritus
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
Jody Grant, chairman emeritus of Texas
Capital Bancshares, Inc., founded the
company in 1998 along with a select group
of colleagues and investors. It is the largest
start-up in banking history. Currently, he
is a partner and senior adviser to BankCap
Partners, a private equity fund.
He previously served as CFO and executive
vice president of EDS, a leading information
technology company with offices in more
than 30 countries. Grant co-led the company’s
successful spin-off from its parent General
Motors, then the fourth largest transaction in
U.S. business history.
In 2001, American Banker named Grant

Pat Bolin (BA ’73)
Chairman, President and CEO
Eagle Oil & Gas Co.
EagleCorp, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
Pat Bolin is chairman, president and
chief executive officer of both Eagle Oil
& Gas Co. and EagleCorp, Inc., a private
investment company with interests in oil
and gas, banking, insurance and real estate.
He co-founded Eagle Oil & Gas Co. in 1976
after beginning his professional career as a
landman at Mitchell Energy Co.
Bolin currently serves as a member of the
boards of Fidelity Bank, Dallas, and Fidelity
Bank, Wichita Falls. As a civic leader, he
also serves as an adviser to the executive

54

“Community Banker of the Year.” In 2002,
Ernst & Young named him Entrepreneur of
the Year for the financial services sector, and
SMU recognized him in 2003 with its Silver
Anniversary Mustang Award. In 2010, he was
named a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award,
an award presented to him by the Horatio
Alger Association of Distinguished Americans,
in honor of his admirable accomplishments
and community service.
Grant is an active business and community
leader, serving on a number of boards
including the MD Anderson Cancer Center,
Communities Foundation of Texas, KERA
and Dallas County Community College
Foundation. He earned his Ph.D. and MBA
from the University of Texas and his BBA
from SMU in 1960, where he was an AllAmerican swimmer.

committee of the board of directors of
the Highland Park Independent School
District Education Foundation and serves
on the executive board of the Cox School
of Business. He has been a member of the
Salesmanship Club of Dallas since 1986,
where he served as chairman of the 2006
EDS Byron Nelson Championship.
Bolin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree
from SMU in 1973. He is a long time member
of the Mustang Club and a supporter of SMU
athletics. In 2008, Bolin and his wife Jane
created the Pat and Jane Bolin BBA Scholars
Endowment Fund for the SMU Cox School
of Business.

Fall 2010

E

coxAlumni Profile

Each year the Cox School celebrates the accomplishments of its alumni at the Distinguished
Alumni Awards Luncheon, now in its 19th year. Alumni are nominated based on their
demonstrated civic and business leadership. In 2010, Joseph M. (Jody) Grant and Pat Bolin were
awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award and Barry Vandevier and Laura Pitlik were named
Outstanding Young Alumni. For additional information or for nominations, please visit http://
www.cox.smu.edu/web/alumni/cox-distinguished-alumni. Outstanding Young Alumni must be 40
years old or younger.

OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI

Barry Vandevier (EMBA ’05)
Chief Information Officer
Sabre Holdings
Southlake, Texas
As chief information officer of Sabre
Holdings, Barry Vandevier oversees
the corporation’s varied and complex
technology functions across four business
units (Sabre Airline Solutions, Sabre
Hospitality Solutions, Sabre Travel Network
and Travelocity), which together span 59
countries around the world. Since assuming
this role in 2006, Sabre Holdings has been
recognized for three consecutive years by
InformationWeek as one of the “Top 100
Most Innovative Users of Technology” as
well as placed in the top 10 of “The Greatest
Software Ever Written.”
Prior to his current position as Sabre

Laura A. Pitlik (PMBA ’05)
Director of Marketing
Hostess Brands, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
Laura Pitlik is director of marketing at
Hostess Brands, Inc. (formerly Interstate
Brands Corporation), one of the largest
wholesale bakers and distributors of fresh
delivered breads and snack cakes in the
United States. She is responsible for brand
marketing, innovation, strategy development
and execution of the 100 percent-natural
brand of breads, Nature’s Pride.
Prior to joining Hostess, Pitlik worked
in brand marketing for Dr Pepper Snapple
Group. During her five years with the
organization, she led brand marketing and
www.cox.smu.edu

Holdings CIO, Vandevier was chief
technology officer of Travelocity. He spent
10 years at Travelocity, starting as a software
developer just after launch when the
company was still deemed an “experiment.”
Vandevier and his wife Michelle are active
chair members and supporters of several
charities, including the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation, Christian Community Action
and God’s Child.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in
industrial engineering from Oklahoma State
University in 1993 and his Executive MBA
from SMU Cox in 2005.

innovation for numerous soft drink brands
including the company’s flagship brand,
Dr Pepper, as well as Sunkist, A&W and
Canada Dry. Before and during her career
as an MBA student at Cox, Pitlik held
marketing positions with Zale Corporation,
Daimler Chrysler and St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital.
Pitlik earned a B.S. in journalism, with
an emphasis in marketing from Texas
Christian University, and her MBA from
the Cox School in 2005. She is a member
of the Cox School’s Associate Board, where
she mentors students interested in brand
management. Pitlik is a supporter of the
AT&T Performing Arts Center, the Dallas
Museum of Art and a member of the Junior
League of Dallas.

55

coxclass notes

Cox Alumni

PHOTO BY ELIZABETH LAVIN

Class Notes

SMU Cox thanks all our alumni who shared class notes with us during the past year.
Staying in touch is essential to maintaining the value of the Cox alumni network. We hope
you will go to www.coxalums.com to look up old friends, keep your profile current and
share exciting news with the Cox community in the coming years.

56

Fall 2010

Class of 1949:

Blake Tartt (BBA) received the
Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award from
the Texas Bar Foundation.

Class of 1968:

Robert Dilworth (BBA, MBA) is a senior
financial advisor, chartered retirement
planning counselor and certified divorce
financial analyst using proven processes
and systems in assisting business owners,
executives and families plan and manage
their wealth.

Class of 1970:

David Boldrick (BBA) began 2010 with his
wife Susan and youngest son Zach in Alaska
on the Russian River. The fifth was a good
day for salmon. Susan caught four. Zach
is an engineer with EDC – Alaska and was
married June 2010. David’s other two sons
are married. David and Susan have three
cute granddaughters.

Suzanne Klapp (MBA) was elected to the
Scottsdale City Council in November 2008
for a four-year term. She is currently vice
mayor.

Class of 1977:

Dirk Johnston (BBA) was recently
recognized by the Texas Association of
Broadcasters as the “2010 Associate of the
Year.” He was honored at a gala held in
Austin on August 12th, coinciding with the
TAB’s Annual Convention. It was the first
time a syndicator has been recognized with
this honor in the 55-year history of the TAB.

Class of 1978:

Ben Anderson (BBA) has retired from
Deloitte after 25 years and is living in Tyler.
He is a member of a foundation board and
enjoys spending time with his wife, traveling
and being at home.

Class of 1979:

Rose Hancock’s (BBA) son, Parker, was
the executive vice president of SGA at
Georgia Tech last year. He was also named
to the advisory board of the president of
the university. He graduated in May with a
degree in electrical engineering. He plans
on attending law school this fall.

Class of 1981:

Barbara Errickson-Connor (MBA) joined
Dallas Social Venture Partners (dsvp.org)
about a year and a half ago after retiring
from HP/EDS. She is learning about ways to
bring corporate skills and money to people
in need. Errickson-Connor is lead DSVP
partner for KIPP Truth Academy charter

57

coxclass notes

school, and provids technical support for
Dallas After School Network (DASN) and
Dallas Youth Village (DYV), ErricksonConnor is finding MBAs have much to offer
the nonprofit world in support of education
and children at risk.

Class of 1982:

Peter Mottek (BBA) returned from AARO
at SMU with his daughter Dominique,
who will be joining the class of 2014. The
administration and organization of the
orientation was excellent. He is so very
proud of Dominique, who relocated from
Lisbon to Dallas in August.
Jeffery Welborn (BBA) recently
relocated after 25 years in San Francisco to
Bentonville, Arkansas, to join his wife who
was recruited last year by the world’s largest
corporation as the senior vice president
of global employee benefits. He is now
networking in financial services.

58

Chuck Bauman (BBA) has a daughter,
Claire, who is an incoming freshman this
year. She is a Hunt Leadership Scholar and
was also designated as a Pre-Law Scholar.
Laura Morales (BBA) was accepted into
the 2010 class of Leadership Texas.

Class of 1983:

Stephen Dutcher (BBA) is happy to
announce that he sold his family business
founded in 1961. The company was sold to
Illustrated Properties. He hopes any and all
alumni will look him up in the sunny East
Coast oceanfront and riverfront resort town
of Stuart, Florida.

Class of 1984:

Barbara Musser (MBA) is now coaching
and mentoring women entrepreneurs to set
up and sustain a successful business doing
what they love. Learn more on her website,
www.barbaramusser.com

Class of 1986:

Bruce Connelly (MBA) was recently
promoted to vice president of sport
performance footwear at Nike, Inc. He
continues to live in Portland, Oregon with
his wife Barbara.

Class of 1987:

Diane Woodend (MBA) was elected
chairman of the board at Lea+Elliott, Inc.
Carol Sprueill (MBA) is now marketing
manager for Dolphin Blue, Inc., a Dallasbased online supplier of environmentally
responsible office supplies and printing.

Class of 1988:

Kelley Rowley (BBA) has served on the
board of The Sci-Tech Discovery Center,
located in Frisco, Texas since October 2008
and as treasurer since May 2009.

Fall 2010

Class of 1990:

Ronald Herbert (BBA) was named
CFO of Addison, Texas-based company
FairPay Solutions in January 2010. FairPay
provides IT-enabled services to reduce
workers compensation medical claims
costs for insurance carriers, third-party
administrators and self-insured employers.
Ron is married to Sally Keller (BA ‘93), and
they live in Frisco with their two daughters.

Class of 1991:

Michelle Milam (MBA) and her husband
Joel Davis announced the birth of Jackson
Philip Davis on January 29, 2010. Michelle
is with the Frito Lay division of PepsiCo,
Inc. and Joel works for e-Rewards, Inc. The
family is living in Plano, Texas.
Robert Baker (BBA, MBA) and his wife
Pam (BA ’90) reside in Southlake, Texas,
with their son Charlie and daughter Britt.
Rob is the senior director of nuclear finance
and accounting for Luminant (part of the
TXU group), based in Glen Rose. His role
also includes the accounting and treasury
activities for the Comanche Peak nuclear
joint venture with Mitusbishi. Pam is
currently working for Neiman Marcus and
is a super-mom for their two wonderful
kids. SMU football games are always on

www.cox.smu.edu

their calendar, as well as catching up with
friends and old classmates.

data. For further reading, her site is http://
stuffindallas.wordpress.com.

Class of 1994:

Class of 1996:

Eric Everett (MBA) has been named
general manager of business development
for Nexen Petroleum USA. He now leads all
acquisition and divestiture as well as new
business activity for Nexen’s U.S. division.
Chad Johannesen (BBA) resides in Ocala,
Florida, with his wife Francine, stepdaughter Aubrey, and a sleepy, 13-year-old
yellow Labrador that he rescued three and
a half years ago. He’s vice president and
division manager of Maronda Homes of
Florida in Ocala and a member of the Ocala
Marion County Chamber of Commerce
and the Marion County Building Industry
Association, where he’s currently the
organization’s president, as well as the
chairperson of the governmental and
industry issues committee. Chad is running
for Florida State Representative, District 22.

Class of 1995:

Laurie McFarlin-Stein (MBA) began a
blog containing the material she is collecting
for her Ph.D. She has been holding camps
and workshops for children to help gather

Martha Holmes is happy to report that she
is half-way through a doctorate in human
and organizational learning at the George
Washington University in Washington, D.C.,
through the Executive Leadership Cohort
Program, which enables her to complete a
residency-based doctorate by traveling to
campus once a month from Santa Fe. She
feels privileged to be in the program. She is
interested in studying organizational culture
as an emergent phenomenon. Martha is
currently delivering training on emotional
intelligence to Cisco Systems offices in San
Jose, Paris and Kolkata (Calcutta).
Eric Stetenfeld (BBA) married Esther
Llamas on April 23, 2009.

Class of 1997:

Jennifer (Koondel) Davidson (BBA)
married Mark Davidson on November 8,
2009, in Los Angeles. She also recently
joined Mesirow Financial Consulting,
LLC, in the firm’s Los Angeles office as
a vice president. In this role she will
utilize her skills and extensive experience

59

coxclass notes

to enhance the firm’s valuation services
practice. Jennifer has approximately 15
years of experience in the financial advisory
services arena, including more than 10 years
of experience valuing capital stock, debt
and derivative securities and intangible
assets. She primarily performs valuations
related to accounting standards for
financial reporting purposes. She has also
performed valuations for collateralization,
mergers and acquisitions, restructuring,
strategic planning, litigation support and tax
reporting purposes. She has served clients
across various industries with a focus on the
communications, entertainment and media,
hedge fund, private equity and technology
industries. She may be reached at jkoondeldavidson@mesirowfinancial.com.
Enid Brackett (BBA) is a Navy foreign
area officer pursuing a Master’s in national
security affairs - Africa region at the Naval
Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.
After language training, she and her family
will be posted to the United States Africa
Command. Enid and her husband Chuck
stay busy with two adorable children: Grace
Amira, born October 12, 2004, and Benjamin
Joseph, born January 22, 2008.

60

Class of 1998:

Benjamin Lavine (BBA) is the co-owner of
Stone Acorn Builders L.P. , a company that
builds custom homes in Houston focusing
on new construction in-fill projects. In
August 2009, Stone Acorn Builders was
selected by Southern Living magazine to
be a part of the exclusive Southern Living
Custom Builder Program. Southern Living
carefully selects members based on their
reputation among local businesses and
consumers, strength of presence in their
respective markets, superior quality and
attention to detail, innovative style, financial
stability and other criteria.
Jennifer (Clark) Tobin (BBA) was
presented with the 2009-2010 Dallas
Association of Young Lawyers Outstanding
Young Lawyer of the Year Award at the
annual Law Day Luncheon sponsored
by the Dallas Bar Association. Clark is a
shareholder at the law firm of Geary, Porter
& Donovan, P.C.

Class of 1999:

Erica (Wertz) Netzley (MBA) married Eric
Netzley on June 6, 2009, in Palos Verdes
Estates, CA. Her maid of honor was Lisa

Harlow (’99) and reader was Jamie Willett
DeBrosse (’99).

Class of 2000:

Aaron Solganick (BBA, MBA) has
recently launched a new investment
banking and M&A advisory firm, Generation
Equity Advisors, focused exclusively on
the technology and digital media industry
sectors. The firm advises company owners,
senior executives and private equity firms
on strategic and financial transactions
to improve shareholder value. The firm
works with private and public companies
globally. Its professionals have completed
over $8 billion in M&A transactions to date.
Aaron Solganick is the founder, president
and managing director of the firm. His
background includes stints at KPMG
Corporate Finance, Southwest Securities,
Bear Stearns, B. Riley & Co. and Perot
Systems, and he has advised on numerous
mergers and acquisitions in his career. The
firm is headquartered in Los Angeles.
Cornelius Foote (MBA) became the North
Dallas publisher of Girlfriends Health
Guide for Women of Color, a two-yearold publication currently distributed in
Fall 2010

coxClass notes
Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and,
later this year, Minneapolis, Baltimore
and New York. Their mission is to uplift,
promote and inform women of color
on health-related disparities affecting
underserved and underrepresented ethnic
women. There are branding and direct
marketing opportunities in print, online
and through events. The publication
reaches women of color 30-50 years old
who are educated and earn more than
$50,000 a year. They have a national
network of some 23,000 members and, in
just a couple months, have more than 1,500
women signed up!
Marianne Pohle (MA/MBA) is the new
development associate and director of
grants at the Van Cliburn Foundation in
Fort Worth.

Class of 2001:

Alexander Stem (BBA, MBA) recently had
the privilege of traveling to Saudi Arabia
and the UAE to conduct product launch
seminars for a new innovative product
within the welding industry.
Ajit Prasad (MBA) was promoted to vice
president at First Data in 2008. Ajit and
his lovely wife Hema continue to reside in
Dallas with their three children.
John Manning (BBA) received a Platinum
Global Recognition Award at Bank of
America for his efforts in the Countrywideto-Bank of America transition.
Alice Lin (MBA) was promoted to associate
principal by CamargoCopeland Architects,
LLP, a Dallas-based architecture, interior
architecture and planning firm with retail/
hospitality, education and public sector
clients.

Class of 2002:

Leska (Scanio) Parker (BBA) and Blake
Parker welcomed Clara Lynn to their family
in May of 2009. Chance and Clara are
looking forward to welcoming baby brother
Parker in October 2010.
Adrianne Jessie (BBA) has been promoted
to division controller of the Northeast
Houston business unit for Republic
Services, Inc., a leading environmental
services company.

www.cox.smu.edu

Stephanie Heideman (BBA, MSA) and
her husband Jason are celebrating the first
birthday of their daughter Kaitlyn Grace,
born August 4, 2009.

industrial and manufacturing industries.
Previously, John spent five years working
in Washington, D.C., in a variety of federal
government and nonprofit jobs.

Class of 2003:

Robyn Glassner (BBA) will be attending
SMU’s Dedman School of Law this fall.

Leonardo Castro (EMBA) was recently
promoted to the position of principal
consultant with Verizon’s Global Services
organization, with expanded territory
responsibility for the entire Southeastern
U.S. region.
Angela Gieras (MBA) has accepted the
position of general manager for Trinity
Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode
Island.
Scott Krouse (BBA) has relocated to the
London office of Oliver Wyman (formerly
Mercer Management Consulting). He is
part of the manufacturing, transportation
and energy practice, with a focus on
aviation, aerospace and defense. He is
currently working in the Middle East with a
large international airline.

Class of 2004:

Michael Cardenas (MBA) has moved back
to South Carolina to accept the position of
IT audit manager at SCANA Corp, a local
utility company.
Joanna Voges (MBA) married John B.
Avera, III, on October 9, 2009. The couple
resides in Austin, TX.
Mikhail Orlof (MBA), after working
for a few startups and entrepreneurial
companies, has launched a company of his
own: Webysuite Inc., a Netsuite Solutions
provider based in Mansfield, Texas, provides
on-demand business software solutions to
small and medium size businesses in DallasFort Worth and the greater North Texas
area.
Brandon (MBA) and Kaja Geary welcomed
their second son, Ciaran Lambert Geary,
born September 18, 2009.

Class of 2005:

John Goodrum (BBA) has started a
position with Loewenstein and Associates
(L&A), an executive recruitment firm in
Houston. L&A’s clients include established,
emerging, and start-up companies that
provide products and services to the energy,

Robert (Tony) Tomlinson (BBA) is at
ChurchillTerry in Dallas, and is the vice
president of external affairs for the Cox
School’s Strategy and Entrepreneurship
Club as he pursues his Master’s in
Entrepreneurship.
Richard Schklair (BBA) was recently
ranked in the top five percent of his peer
group and promoted from analyst to
consultant at Accenture.

Class of 2006:

Ashleigh Gebhardt (BBA) currently
holds the role of assistant jewelry product
manager for luxury jeweler Van Cleef &
Arpels for the Americas. Her responsibilities
include all special order pricing and order
placement for the Americas, launching of
new Bijoux, Creative Jewelry and High
Jewelry collections in the U.S. Ashleigh
was also recently invited to become a
member of the Comité Haute Joaillerie,
an international high jewelry committee
dedicated to promoting excellence through
shared knowledge and artistic techniques.
She has now been happily married for two
years to Maximilien Lefranc, who SMU
graciously accepted as a Hurricane Katrina
refugee from Tulane.
Ben Cowgill (BBA) was named vice
president of Bell Group, a Versailles,
Kentucky, advertising agency specializing
in the thoroughbred industry. He most
recently spent four years working for a
division of Omnicom called The Marketing
Arm, based in Dallas and founded by SMU
graduate Ray Clark.
Katharine Oehmann’s (BBA) daughter,
Wendy, gave birth to her fourth child on
Earth Day, April 22, 2010. His name is Liam
Rhys and he is adorable!

Class of 2008:

Patricia Mejia (EMBA) has been accepted
to Pepperdine’s doctoral program in
organizational leadership. She hopes life is
good for everyone!

and luncheon, Ray Hunt (BBA ’61, SMU Board
of Trustees) was awarded the inaugural L.
Frank Pitts Leadership Award. Named in
honor of the late oil and gas professional,
the award is given to an individual who
exemplifies a spirit of ethical leadership and
innovative impact on the energy industry.
Shown here: Allen Custard, Marla Custard,
Ray Hunt, Linda Pitts Custard (EMBA ’99), Bill
Custard, (BBA ’57) and Laura Hurt.
5-April 23: At the annual Business Leadership

saw the largest turnout ever of students,
faculty, staff and administrators. Everyone
attending was treated to great food,
conversation, fellowship and a chance to win
wonderful prizes.
10-April 28: The SMU Real Estate Society at
the Cox School of Business held its spring
meeting and hosted Jim Saccacio (BBA ’82)
as the keynote speaker. Jim is CEO of
Realtytrac, Inc., in Irvine, California. Shown
here: Jim Saccacio dons his cowboy hat
during his presentation.
11-April 30: The Dallas HR Association, in

16-May 10: Golf for Cox Tournament for
alumni and friends held its 10th annual
outing at Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine.
Many players, sponsors and volunteers
participated in the success of the event. Dr
Pepper Snapple Group served as the Ace
sponsor. To see others who joined the fun,
visit www.golfforcox.com.
Shown here: Volunteers Jennifer Brock
and Misty Wightman (MBA ’01) in the red
shirts and members of the SMU Pom Squad,
Amanda Green, Amy Andrus, Taylor Jack,
Chelsea Charron and Nichole Moisan.
17-May 10: Also at the tournament, the
foursome representing the graduating MBA
Class of 2010: Brian Jackson, Drew Garrison,
Josh Weinberg and Kevin Shtofman.
18-May 12: At the Cox Faculty and Staff
Awards Luncheon, Senior Lecturer Chip
Besio is recognized by Dean Niemi for
his outstanding classroom teaching and
engagement with marketing students.

19-May 12: Each year, the Boghetich Family
Distinguished Teaching Award is given to the
top professor at the Cox School. The 2009-10
award was presented to Professor Kumar
Venkataraman. Pictured here: Troy Boghetich,
Kumar Venkataraman and Dean Niemi.
20-May 14: At the Cox School of Business
Alumni Awards Luncheon, Pat Bolin (BA ’73)
and Jody Grant (BBA ’60) were recognized as
Distinguished Cox Alumni. Barry Vandevier
(EMBA ’05) and Laura Pitlik (PMBA ’05) were
recognized as Outstanding Young Alumni.
Shown here: Pat Bolin receiving his award
from Dean Niemi and SMU President R.
Gerald Turner.
21-May 14: Pictured here: Barry Vandevier
receiving his award from Dean Niemi and Dr.
Turner.
22-May 14: Prior to graduation, Dean Niemi
and Tom Perkowski, assistant dean of the
EMBA program, gathered with the 2010
EMBA class for a celebratory reception for all
classmates, family and friends. Shown here
enjoying the festivities: Kate Livingston,
director of SMU-in-Plano, Ellen Lee and Tom
Perkowski.
23-May 15: At receptions following
commencement, Dean Niemi welcomed
all graduating Cox students, families and
friends. Congratulations to those earning
their BBA, EMBA, FTMBA, MSA, MSE, MSM
and PMBA!

joined local members of the SMU Alumni
Association, Brad Cheves, vice president of
development and external affairs, and Steve
Orsini, director of athletics, for a reception
and presentation. Pictured here: Steve Orsini
sharing his thoughts on the upcoming year
in athletics.

30-June 5: The Cox School of Business
Alumni Association Board of Directors
held its spring meeting and welcomed 15
new members to the board. Led by Wayne
Richard (BBA ’80), chairman of the board,
and Lauren McDonald (MBA ’82), vice chair,
board members heard from Dean Niemi,
Kevin Knox and special guest presenter,
Cox Professor of Management and
Organizations, Mickey Quiñones. Pictured
here: Mickey Quiñones making his remarks
to the board.

(BBA ’62) welcomed incoming first-year
student Kirsten Hamm and congratulated
her for winning the drawing for the June
Jones autographed Mustang football helmet.

conference at the Collins Center announcing
the formation of the Gulf Project, a coalition
of energy and environmental experts. This
coalition includes SMU, Texas A&M, UTAustin, University of Houston, Rice and Texas
Tech. After the press conference, Governor
Perry visited with Cox students and alumni.
Shown here: Grant Johnson (MBA ’11), Rob
Heiser (MBA ’11), Rick Perry, Craig Kimball
(MBA ’11) and Matt Day (MBA ’10).

36-July 10: In Chicago, the SMU Alumni
Association sponsored an event at Soldier
Field featuring SMU Head Football Coach
June Jones as their special guest. Shown
here: Cox Alumni Association Board
members Matt (PMBA ’00) and Cristine
Struble (BBA ’96), along with future
Mustangs, Matthew and William Struble and
Coach June Jones.

the Tower Club were: Colleen Affeldt, Ray

Fall 2010

Top 10 Ways To Be
Informed, Involved, Invested
1
2

Maintain a current home, business and e-mail address in
the Cox alumni database (coxalums.com).

3

Help recruit prospective students for Cox undergraduate,
graduate and executive education (certificate and
non-degree) programs.

4
5
6

Encourage recruiters at your company and other
companies to hire Cox students and alumni for internships,
project work, part-time and full-time job opportunities.

7
8
9
10

Attend Cox events including social engagements, football
and basketball tailgates, educational forums, panels,
meetings of industry-specific organizations and awards
programs. Ask classmates, other alumni, friends, family and
business colleagues to join you.
MBA ‘04 Reunion

Make a contribution to the Cox Annual Fund and
ongoing capital campaigns.
Become a program, event or table
sponsor at executive speaker
luncheons, pre-game “tailgate”
events, undergraduate and
graduate student clubs and golf outings.
Sponsor and host receptions for Cox alumni, prospective
students and parents in your area.
Purchase SMU Cox logo merchandise from our online
collection. NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES.

Southern Methodist University
Cox School of Business
PO Box 750333
Dallas, TX 75275-0333
Address Service Requested

Take your career to
the next level at SMU Cox
Certificate Programs

n Graduate Marketing Certificate Program (9/13/10-2/28/11;
one night per week, also offered at SMU-in-Plano in January)
n Graduate Finance Certificate Program (9/14/10-3/22/11;
one night per week)
n Starting A Business Certificate Program (10/5/10-11/23/10;
one night per week)
n
Business Intelligence Graduate Certificate Program (10/26/10-2/23/11;
one night per week)
Masters Programs
n Master of Science in Entrepreneurship
16 months, evenings and weekends; starts each spring

n Master of Science in Accounting
Nine months, full-time (part-time option available); starts each fall
n Master of Science in Management
12 months, evenings and weekends; starts each fall
For more information, visit cox.smu.edu.
Southern Methodist University will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability or veteran status.
SMUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to equal opportunity includes nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

CoxToday Fall 2010

The Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship. With backgrounds as diverse as the Fortune 500 to the Marines, these innovators discuss how they honed their skills at Cox and what’s ahead .A Pioneer in Entrepreneurial Education Scott Walker Lisbeth McNabb Angela Dominguez . A Gift that Keeps On Giving. Andy Nguyen. Albert C. Black, Jr.